Pakistan terms India's UNSC bid 'selfish,blind national ambition'

Pakistan has taken pot shots at India's  bid for a permanent seat on the Security Council, calling it "selfish" and a claim to "self-arrogated right to a privileged and unequal status" but did not directly name it.

In a General Assembly debate on equitable representation on the Security  Council, Pakistan's Permanent Representative Maleeha Lodhi said: "Rigidity and blind pursuit of national ambition is the real reason for  our persisting failure to achieve a more democratic, accountable,  transparent and effective Security Council."

Pakistan along with its ally, Italy, struck the discordant note at the  debate, where there was broad support for adding permanent seats on the  Security Council and several countries firmly backed India's candidacy  for one.

"A few countries have sought to promote their self-arrogated right to a  privileged and unequal status," Lodhi said. "Pakistan opposes the creation  of new permanent seats as it is contrary to the universally agreed  principles of our of time -- accountability and transparency."

Sounding a contradictory note, Lodhi said Pakistan "always respected  African nations' declarations calling for two permanent seats for  countries from that continent even as she opposed expanding the Security  Council.

"Pakistan distinguishes between the demands motivated by selfish  ambitions and the collective demand of an entire continent," she added.

Pakistan is a member of a 13-member group calling itself Uniting for  Consensus, (UfC)  which is led by Italy. The group steadfastly opposed  the creation of a negotiating text for reform talks saying there should first be a consensus. However, without a framework document,  negotiations could not take place, much less reach a consensus.

In a setback to UfC and others trying to derail efforts to add permanent  members, the General Assembly last month adopted a negotiating text that  would kickstart meaningful discussions on reforms.

Speaking on behalf of the UfC, Italy's Permanent Representative  Sebastiano Cardi blamed others for the stalled negotiations. "The past  has demonstrated that divisive approaches and initiatives complicate our  process even further, distancing us from reaching our commonly shared  goal of reform."

Reiterating the UfC's opposition to expanding the permanent membership, he  made a dig at India and other countries seeking permanent seats.

"Today we will still hear voices in favor of adding new permanent  members, new veto powers, all while pursuing the same goal of making the  Council more effective," Cardi said, adding: "No one has asked them to forfeit  their willingness to play a greater role in the Council."

He said UfC was suggesting longer-term seats with the possibility of an  immediate re-election.  "These seats would not be reserved to a select  group of countries," he said. "All UN member states willing to make a  bigger contribution to the work of the Council would have the right to  run for a longer-term seat."