THIS is apropos the denial of visa to the Iranian foreign minister by America for his UN visit. Refusal to grant visa to a foreign minister of any country for participation in a meeting of General Assembly or the Security Council is a serious violation of the undertaking given by host country to all UN members.

This is tantamount to deliberately denying one party to present its views on the issues under consideration.

Taking a cue from remarks by former French president Jacques Chirac and Russian President Vladimir Putin about revamping the UN it was rightly suggested in your newspaper that UN headquarters and Security Council offices should be moved to Geneva.

There are already many offices of UN agencies there like the World Health Organisation.

After World War II, the US was the only country economically strong enough to support the UN activities. Time has come when other permanent members of the Security Council and affluent countries of Europe and Asia should think of an alternative place for UN headquarters.

France, Morocco, Italy and St Petersburg in Russia should be considered for this change of venue.

Until such time that desired arrangements are made, at least meetings of the Security Council should be held in Geneva. This will greatly help in promoting peace. All countries of the world and international media should help to achieve this goal.

Brig (r) Prof Khalid Hassan Mahmood
Karachi

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2020