Karachi: Asserting that "friends were no
longer friends of the country", Pakistan on Saturday said India had
played a "major" role in supporting its successful bid to
become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
"Many of the countries that Pakistan had considered as
friends were no longer friends of the country. But India
supported us in becoming a non-permanent member of the
15-member Security Council and played a major role,"
Pakistan's ambassador to the UN Abdullah Hussain Haroon told
reporters at the Karachi airport early today morning.
Pakistan, which was challenged by Kyrgyzstan, was backed
by 129 of the 193 member states in the General Assembly.
Kyrgyzstan polled 55 votes.
The country will replace Lebanon, which currently occupies
the Asian seat, on January 1, 2012, to begin a two-year term.
Haroon said that Pakistan had worked very hard in the past
six months to win votes for the prestigious post.
"I think we should not be discouraged by the reaction by
some of the nations in the UN because I can say the world
wants Pakistan to play its positive role in the global
scenario," he said.
Haroon said that Pakistan was committed towards
multilateralism and promoting the principles and purposes
enshrined in the UN Charter.
Haroon, while commenting on the Drone attacks by the US in
Pakistan's tribal areas, said that he could take up the issue
if the government authorised him to do so.
"But we should not be scared of these attacks," he added.
The Islamic country has been on the council six times
earlier - 1952-53, 1968-69, 1976-77, 1983-84, 1993-94 and
2003-04. It will be the seventh time that Pakistan would be on
the council, and the fourth time its term would overlap with
India. Both the South Asian neighbours have shared terms on
the Security Council in 1968, 1977 and 1984.
The Security Council has five veto-holding permanent
members - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China
- and 10 temporary elected members without vetoes.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, October 29, 2011, 09:03