Pakistan opposes India’s quest for seat

Pakistan has opposed India’s bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council on the eve of US President Barrack Obama’s visit to India, where the issue is likely to figure high up on the agenda during his talks with the Indian leadership.

Obama, who begins his three-day maiden visit to India today, will skip Pakistan, as he promised to tour the country separately in 2011.

However, the visit is being followed very closely in Pakistan as the National Assembly’s Kashmir Committee met on Friday and was given a detailed briefing by the Foreign Office about the US president’s trip.

The Foreign Office informed the meeting that Pakistan believes any two sovereign states are entitled to develop their bilateral relations along lines that they deem fit.
However, it cautioned the US president against taking measures that disturb the regional balance.

“It is Pakistan’s considered view that anything that militates against the regional balance in South Asia is counterproductive and not in the interest of the region and the world,” said a Foreign Office statement.
In response to a question about the US endorsing India’s permanent seat, the Foreign Office officials told members that Pakistan’s approach to the reform of the Security Council was based on principles.

The committee was informed that Pakistan believes that decisions impacting global systems of inter-state relations based on the charter require consensus.

“The spirit and the principles of the charter should not be compromised. The principle of sovereign equality is a cardinal one.”

In a clear message to the US president, Pakistan said that any endorsement of the Indian bid for a permanent seat in the Security Council will have serious implications. It will also have negative impact on issues relating to peace and security in South Asia.

India welcomes UN Security Council seat, wants it permanent

India welcomed its selection Tuesday to the UN Security Council as an opportunity to press its claim for a permanent seat and vowed to use its tenure to promote stability in its own “troubled region.”
India was selected in an uncontested vote to take one of the 10 non-permanent seats on the 15-member council. The five permanent members with veto power are Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
India’s presence on the council was a “reflection of the expectations the international community has of India,” Foreign Minister SM Krishna told reporters in New Delhi.
Pledging to be a voice of “moderation and constructive engagement,” Krishna said New Delhi would also seek “reaffirmation of the need for a permanent presence for India” on the Security Council. “We live in a troubled neighbourhood,” Krishna said.
“Our immediate priorities in the council will include peace and stability in our near and extended neighbourhood,” he said, in a clear reference to India’s fraught ties with rival Pakistan and its concerns over the security situation in Afghanistan.
India, a founder member of the UN, has served on the Council six times before, but not since 1992.
India, South Africa, Columbia, Germany and Portugal won non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council when the General Assembly voted to fill five seats that will become vacant at the end of the year. The outgoing members are Turkey, Austria, Japan, Mexico and Uganda. The new members will take over on January 1, 2011, and will serve for two years. India polled 187 votes — the highest tally — South Africa 182, and Colombia 186. They were unchallenged in the contest.
Five of the 15 nations on the Security Council are elected to two-year terms each year. Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States are permanent members of the council. “We are truly delighted… We were an endorsed candidate but the endorsement came after a long campaign … We are humbled by the number 187,” Indian ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri told reporters after the vote that brings India into the Security Council after 19 years.
Although not a candidate in the contest, one vote was cast for Pakistan. Asked whether Pakistan had voted for itself, Ambassador Puri said, “Well I know that Pakistan voted for India so that particular vote was not cast by Pakistan … it was cast by someone else … I don’t want to comment on the state of mind of the person who put it in.”