Pakistan slams Indian election to Security Council as non-permanent member

In this file photo, Pakistan's foreign office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui is addressing the weekly press briefing in Islamabad on Feb. 20, 2020. (AN photo)

• The foreign office says New Delhi committed flagrant violation of several UNSC resolutions on Kashmir
• Experts say Pakistan could have stopped the Indian election by fielding its own candidate from the region

ISLAMABAD: The foreign office of Pakistan said on Thursday that India’s election as a non-permanent United Nations Security Council (UNSC) member raised multiple question, adding that New Delhi’s actions in Indian-administered Kashmir and beyond negated the fundamental principles and objectives of the world organization’s charter.
The UN General Assembly on Wednesday elected four new non-permanent members of the Security Council for two years, including Norway, Ireland and Mexico. In the Asia-Pacific region, India ran unopposed and bagged 184 votes out of 192 countries that participated in the election.
“India stands in flagrant violation of several resolutions of the Security Council that prescribed a UN-supervised plebiscite to enable the people of Jammu and Kashmir to exercise their fundamental right to self-determination,” the foreign office spokesperson, Aisha Farooqui, said in her weekly media briefing.
“The charter stipulates that in discharging this responsibility, on behalf of the member states, the council shall act in accordance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations,” she continued.
“India is a consistent violator of the UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir. Rather than felicitated, a country with such credentials must be held accountable. India must be asked to abide by the resolutions of the Security Council,” Farooqui added.
She said that Pakistan would be working with the rest of the UNSC member states in advancing the objectives of international peace and security in South Asia and beyond.
Pakistan’s former foreign secretary, Salman Bashir, said that Islamabad’s concerns were justified since India would only stonewall any UNSC initiative to uphold peace and justice for Kashmiris.
“Pakistan has serious objections to India’s credentials to serve as a Security Council member due its scant regard for the principles and purposes of the world organization and reckless conduct in sharp variance with several UNSC resolutions notably pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir,” he told Arab News.
The former Pakistani diplomat said the country should have stop Indian election by fielding its own candidate since it would have prevented a consensus within Asia-Pacific region.
“Usually regional nominations sail through,” he continued. “There were no other candidates from our region that Pakistan could have voted for.”
An international affairs expert, Dr. Zafar Nawaz Jaspal said that India would disturb regional balance by utilizing its presence at the UNSC.
“It is a standard practice that one regional candidate goes to the UNSC and begins to focus more on the interests of its neighborhood,” he told Arab News, adding that India, however, was likely “to play dirty” due to its enmity with Pakistan and would weaken the regional consensus.