ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top diplomat at the United Nations on Tuesday reiterated the demand by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation that Muslim countries have ‘adequate representation’ in any future expanded Security Council.
UNSC reforms have been a contentious issue since Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) began in 2009, with little progress due to deep divisions among member states. The crux of the debate revolves around whether to add new permanent members, whether such members should possess veto power, and how to ensure fair regional representation.
The Group of Four comprising Brazil, Germany, India and Japan, seek permanent seats but are facing opposition from the Uniting for Consensus group, which includes Pakistan and argues against new permanent seats while calling for a new category of renewable memberships.
“Today at IGN meeting, I reiterated OIC’s demand that any reform of UN Security Council, which doesn’t ensure adequate representation of Muslim Ummah, will not be acceptable to the Islamic world,” Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Munir Akram said in a social media post.
“This position is in line with an agreement on equitable representation of all groups,” he added.
According to the state-owned APP news agency, Akram said the issue of UNSC expansion had also come up for discussion at the recent Islamic Summit in Gambia which issued a communique, saying efforts to expand the 15-member body should not be subjected to artificial deadlines and should be made with consensus.
The UNSC currently has five permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — and 10 non-permanent members elected to serve for two years.
The OIC is the second largest intergovernmental organization after the UN.
