UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has urged the United Nations Security Council to take “bold decisions” to ensure compliance with the UN Charter’s principles and its own decisions, specifically regarding the right of self-determination for Kashmir and Palestine.
Speaking at a debate on effective multilateralism, Pakistan’s Ambassador Munir Akram suggested that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres should conduct an annual review of situations where Council resolutions are being violated or remain unimplemented.
He also called for an enlargement of the Council to become more representative, accountable, democratic, transparent, and effective.
Meanwhile, Guterres called multilateral cooperation the “beating heart of the United Nations,” but warned that the multilateral system is under greater strain than at any time since its creation.
He highlighted the urgent need for effective multilateral responses to prevent and resolve conflicts, manage economic uncertainty, rescue the Sustainable Development Goals, and address challenges to global norms against the use and possession of nuclear weapons.
The debate was sponsored by Russia, the current holder of the Council presidency, whose foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, appeared in person at the UN headquarters in New York for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began 14 months ago.
In an impassioned speech, Lavrov appealed to nations in the global south to view Western criticism of Russian actions in Ukraine as part of a larger US plot to prevent the rise of other world powers. However, the US, its allies, and other representatives on the Council insisted that it was indeed all about Ukraine.
