India’s role in Pakistan’s successful bid to become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) was once again acknowledged by Pakistan on Saturday. Upon his arrival in Karachi, Pakistan’s ambassador to the U.N. Abdullah Hussain Haroon said India played a big role.
Though he did not go into specifics of which countries among Pakistan’s long-standing friends did not support Islamabad’s bid, Mr. Haroon was quoted by the Karachi media as saying that many of the countries that Pakistan had considered as friends were no longer its friends but “India supported us’’.
Soon after the election results were out last weekend, India had welcomed Pakistan’s win. “The election of Pakistan will give us new opportunities to work together on issues of concern to them and us. I am confident Pakistan would also be with India on thematic issues like peacekeeping and counter-terrorism,’’ said Government sources.
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Pointing out that Kyrgyzstan, the sole rival, was no match for Pakistan, the sources drew attention to Mr. Haroon publicly thanking his Indian counterpart Hardeep Puri for New Delhi’s backing. “One issue (Kashmir), which people say is contentious between the two, has technically been on the table for more than 60 years. Nothing has happened on that and there is unlikely to be any movement for a long time to come. Otherwise Pakistan and India are likely to have similar positions on all other issues,’’ said the sources.
“Hypothetically, had Pakistan been with India on the UNSC during the current year, without fear of contradiction we can say that their votes on dozens of resolutions and Presidential statements would have been identical on issues like Syria, Lebanon or Cote d'ivoire,’’ they added.
India’s two-year term as non-permanent member of the UNSC began in January this year while Pakistan will begin its two-year term from January 1, 2012. This is the fourth time India and Pakistan will be on the UNSC at the same time.
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While India and Pakistan are known to coordinate their strategies on various issues at multi-lateral fora, still the Indian support for Islamabad’s bid to the UNSC’s non-permanent grouping was flagged in the Pakistani media that is otherwise quick to find fault with New Delhi.