UNITED NATIONS: Pakis­tan decried on Monday that the Intergovernmental Nego­tia­tion process (IGN) on the reform of the UN Security Council was flawed this year and expressed fervent hope the negotiations would move forward with more transparency.

In a hard-hitting statement in the UN General Assembly, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United Nations Maleeha Lodhi reiterated “meaningful reform of the Security Council can be achieved only if there is genuine consensus among member states”, not via the so-called “procedural” method.

“The agreed objective of the IGN process is a negotiated solution with the widest possible political acceptance of member states,” she added.

Referring to the efforts of the some aspirants to the permanent seats the G4 nation – India, Germany, Brazil and Japan, she observed “those who have long sought to use procedural manoeuvres to advance their positions on Security Council reform should be aware that such efforts will not and cannot succeed”.

Ms Lodhi assured “nevertheless, we will work with others to restore the IGN discussion at the next UNSC session in a constructive and consensual direction”.

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2015

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