UNITED NATIONS, June 1: Pakistan’s ambassador to the United Nations, Munir Akram, said on Saturday that there had been “a dawn of a new spirit in the UN Security Council with the adoption of resolution 1,483, lifting economic sanctions against Iraq.”

Talking to Dawn after completion of Pakistan’s month-long presidency of the UN Security Council, Mr Akram said: “once again the international community has come together to work in consensus for international peace and security.”

Mr Akram received commendation from diplomats for overcoming the most tumultuous period in the council’s history following rupture in the international community on the war against Iraq, during which the resolution was passed.

He said the United States had accepted almost three dozen amendments to its resolution given by other member states, which included almost a dozen put forward by Pakistan.

“The new resolution creates a basis for a future expansion of the UN Security Council’s role in postwar Iraq and it also envisages a bigger role for UN secretary-general’s special representative,” he said.

Besides, he said, it would give other states a chance to participate in stabilizing Iraq and protecting its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Asked whether the resolution legitimized the US invasion, he said: “This is a new beginning. The international community has realized that it has to work together with a new vision and collective effort for world’s peace and security.”

Asked whether Pakistan’s efforts to raise the Kashmir issue at the UN Security Council had taken a back-seat to the new realities, Mr Akram said “recent moves made by India’s prime minister have prompted Pakistan to approach the Kashmir issue in a positive framework.”

He referred to Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri’s statement in the Security Council debate on pacific settlement of disputes, where he had said: “I do not want to vitiate the atmosphere.” “Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s phased agreement to restart talks with Pakistan and his apparent willingness to resume dialogue made it possible for us to rethink the issue at the Security Council,” he said.

Mr Akram said a dialogue between India and Pakistan should be without any preconditions and “if India continues to refuse bilateral talks it would become inevitable for the Pakistani delegation here to raise the issues at other UN forums.”