India doesn’t qualify to be UNSC member: FO

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday declared that enhanced defence cooperation between India and the US was a threat to the region and India doesn’t qualify to be a member of the UN Security Council.
Emphasising upon the crucial role of the international community in bringing about a sustainable solution to Jammu and Kashmir, the FO said Pakistan was committed to a meaningful and constructive dialogue with India to resolve all the outstanding issues.
The reassurance for dialogue comes just after Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India, Abdul Basit, briefed the prime minister and Foreign Office in his meetings on Wednesday, indicating that perhaps, President Barrack Obama may have nudged the Modi Sarkar to go for talks with Pakistan.
Pakistan’s stance came from Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry, when he briefed ambassadors of the P-5 countries and the EU, based in Islamabad, on Thursday.He pointed out that the international community too had a responsibility to remain engaged on this issue because elections in the Indian-Occupied Kashmir (IOK) could not be a substitute to the UN-monitored plebiscite and that there was concern over the Indian attempts to alter the ground situation through demographic changes.
“He drew the attention to the continuous human rights violations by the Indian forces in IOK and the plight of Kashmiris, of which human rights organisations and the international community are well aware. The foreign secretary expressed the hope that the international community would continue to remain engaged on this vital issue,” Chaudhry’s office said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the FO spokesperson during the media briefing questioned how a country like India, which has violated the UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir, can qualify to become a permanent member of the UNSC.She also said that Pakistan firmly believes that confidence-building and arms reduction in the regional and sub-regional context is of paramount importance.
Most questions at the briefing pertained to the recently concluded visit by Barack Obama to India in which apart from other issues, he publicly supported India’s entry into the UNSC.“The UN Security Council is the primary organ of the United Nations for international peace and security. As the adviser (Sartaj Aziz) pointed out in his statement, India is in violation of the rights of people of Kashmir to self-determination. How does a country with such record qualify to become a permanent member of the UNSC?” she asked.
In this regard, the spokesperson said that the issue of Security Council reforms was of vital national importance for all the United Nations member states. “It is in the interest of everyone to seek more democratic, effective and credible mechanism of maintenance of international peace and security through comprehensive reform of the Security Council. Pakistan, as a part of the Uniting for Consensus (UFC) group, has always advocated an effective and feasible reform of the Security Council based on consensus among the UN membership. A reformed Security Council should reflect the interests of the wider UN membership.
“In our view, the idea of new permanent members creates new centers of power and privileges, and could make the UNSC even more undemocratic,” she added.Pakistan once again also questioned the Indo-US defence agreement which she explained would only add to the conventional asymmetry and hence strategic instability.
“On the conventional side, India’s massive acquisition of weapons further complicates the regional strategic stability. India’s defence spending has increased by 12% in 2014-15 and stands at US$38.35 billion. India has been the top buyers of arms for the last three years. Pakistan has been proposing a three-pronged Strategic Restraint Regime consisting (I) conflict resolution, (II) nuclear and missile restraint and (III) conventional balance,” she said.
However, the spokesperson was reluctant to give details of the security adviser’s remarks that Pakistan suffered from foreign-sponsored terrorism.“We are not in business of making public allegations and disclosing information through the media. We engage the countries concerned and we engage the international community. Our concerns and evidence have been shared with all concerned,” she said.