I wish to congratulate
the President of the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth
session on his election. As one of the Vice-Presidents
at this session, we assure him of our full support and
cooperation. I also take this opportunity to convey
profound gratitude and appreciation to my brother, Ali
Treki, the outgoing President, for his able leadership
during the sixty-fourth session. Pakistan owes him
gratitude for his timely initiative to convene a plenary
meeting of the Assembly on the humanitarian
emergency arising from the floods in Pakistan (see
A/64/PV.110).
I come to the Assembly at a difficult time in
Pakistan’s history. The recent flash floods — the worst
in living memory — have left behind a trail of death
and destruction. Precious lives have been lost, millions
of acres of crops have been washed away, homes have
been destroyed and livelihoods have been lost. We are
grateful to the United Nations, our development
partners and other friends in the international
community for standing up with us in this difficult
hour and for their important contribution in supporting
rescue and relief operations in Pakistan.
The Government remains focused in its resolve to
address the challenges posed by that humanitarian
crisis. We are determined to rebuild a better and vibrant
Pakistan and to do so in a transparent and accountable
manner. The resilience of our people should enable us
to achieve that.
We live in an ever more interconnected and
interdependent world, a world where our fate and
destinies are interwoven like never before, a world
where it is increasingly difficult to maintain islands of
peace and prosperity while conflicts, oppression and
adversity fester. We live in a world where dividends of
peace are shared as easily as the fallout of adversity or
instability.
Today, we face an integrated onslaught of a series
of new and emerging challenges that seriously threaten
economic growth and development, social cohesion
and environmental protection in our countries. We
clearly have reached a decisive moment. We will have
to make wise and well-considered choices that bring
peace and prosperity to our world at present while
protecting and preserving it for future generations.
The response is simple: global problems require
global solutions. The world needs a new multilateral
approach that truly subscribes to the values and
principles that we, the peoples of the United Nations,
signed on to 65 years ago.
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The United Nations Charter envisages a world
where equity is valued as much as entitlement, where
inclusiveness replaces exclusiveness, where dialogue
and collaboration define engagement, where
transparency and openness guide business and
decision-making in global institutions. Full and
unconditional adherence to those values and principles
is what will put us on the road to durable peace and
security and sustained economic growth. As the primus
inter pares, the United Nations is the only and truly
universal multilateral Organization that enjoys the
credibility, legitimacy and universal acceptability to
realize that — which is also its raison d’être.
Pakistan supports comprehensive reform of the
Security Council to make it more representative,
equitable, transparent and accountable. Council reform
must be guided by the principles of equality and
democracy, which could conform to a dynamic future,
one not entrenched in the historical mistakes and
individual privileges of the past. We should look for an
outcome that unites and does not divide the
membership, one that strengthens and does not weaken
the Organization. Our collective search should
culminate in a consensus solution that corresponds to
the interest of the entire membership, particularly small
and medium States, developing countries and Africa.
Pakistan, as a leading troop-contributing country
for United Nations peacekeeping, is playing its due
role in the maintenance of international peace and
security. Our peacekeepers have laid down their lives
in missions that were operationally demanding and
geographically difficult. The unique status of the
United Nations brings acceptance to its peacekeeping
activities, and the success of peacekeeping operations,
in turn, brings credibility to the world body. For those
suffering in a conflict zone, the sight of a blue helmet
provides a beacon of hope, which has illuminated the
lives of millions by bringing peace and alleviating their
pains and sorrows.
Our commitment to the promotion of peace,
security and stability, the development of friendly
relations with other nations, respect for sovereignty
and territorial integrity and the promotion of economic
and social development is unwavering. It is that firm
conviction that has enabled our democratic
Government to remain steadfast in its resolve to fight
terrorism and extremism, even as we have to deal with
the massive destruction caused by catastrophic floods.
Our national consensus and resolve to fight extremism
and terrorism remains unshaken.
The world recognizes and applauds the important
successes achieved by our security forces against
terrorists. Those successes have come at a heavy cost.
More than 20,000 innocent civilians have fallen victim
to terrorism, and more than 2,500 personnel of the
security forces have offered the ultimate sacrifice. Our
material losses are nearly $50 billion. The Pakistani
nation will persist in its efforts to eliminate terrorism.
The issue has both regional and global
dimensions. It is imperative that all countries do more
to combat that menace. It is also essential to address
the root causes of terrorism, which are often found in
poverty, deprivation, injustices and oppression.
Terrorists recognize no borders; they have no religion
and no creed. It is therefore absurd to malign a whole
people or a region or any religion on that account. We
cannot accept the stereotyping of Muslims as terrorists.
Islam is a religion of peace, compassion and
brotherhood. Terrorism is a complete antithesis to
Islam’s humanistic outlook and noble values.
Pakistan supports the just cause of the Palestinian
people for restitution of their inalienable national
rights, including their independent Palestinian State
with Al Quds Al Sharif as its capital.
The brazen use of force against the humanitarian
freedom flotilla on 31 May 2010, which resulted in the
killing of humanitarian workers, was a flagrant
violation of international law and norms. We look
forward to a prompt, impartial and transparent inquiry
of the incident by the Secretary-General’s Panel of
Inquiry.
The dispute over Jammu and Kashmir is one of
the oldest on the agenda of the United Nations. It is
about the exercise of the right to self-determination by
the Kashmiri people through a free, fair and impartial
plebiscite under United Nations auspices.
Pakistan views the prevailing situation in Indian-
occupied Kashmir with grave concern. Over the past
two months, more than 100 Kashmiris have been killed
by Indian security forces in Kashmir. We strongly
condemn that brutality. The human rights of the
Kashmiri people must be respected and their voices
heard to create an enabling environment for a peaceful
solution to the long-standing Jammu and Kashmir
dispute. Pakistan reaffirms its complete solidarity with
25 10-55264
the Kashmiri people and urges the international
community to persuade India to end its repression in
Kashmir.
Pakistan is willing to engage India in a
comprehensive dialogue to normalize relations between
the two countries by finding amicable solutions to all
outstanding issues, including the core dispute of
Jammu and Kashmir. A peaceful resolution of the
Kashmir dispute, in accordance with United Nations
resolutions and taking into account the aspirations of
the Kashmiri people, would create an atmosphere
conducive to durable peace and stability in the South
Asian region.
In the spirit of global solidarity and good-
neighbourly relations, Pakistan has hosted the largest
concentration of refugees anywhere in the world for the
past 30 years. We continue to host our Afghan brothers
as a moral and humanitarian duty. No country has
suffered more than Pakistan from the direct and
indirect consequences of decades of conflict in
Afghanistan. We thus have an abiding stake in peace
and stability in Afghanistan. Our commitment to that
objective remains firm. The time has come to transform
Afghanistan from the centre stage of proxy wars,
interference and confrontation into a hub for
international cooperation and development.
Pakistan believes that the restoration of societal
equilibrium in Afghanistan is an Afghan responsibility
and cannot be imposed externally. We support all
efforts for national reconciliation that are Afghan-
owned and Afghan-led. We congratulate the
Government of Afghanistan on holding successful
parliamentary elections. They will strengthen President
Karzai’s initiation of national reconciliation and
reintegration.
Disarmament and non-proliferation are important
pillars of the international peace and security
architecture. We remain committed to both objectives
and believe that they should be pursued in an equitable
and non discriminatory manner. The asymmetric build-
up of conventional weapons and the espousal of
aggressive doctrines have a negative impact on
regional security.
The pursuit of discriminatory policies and
disregard for the security interests of States seriously
erode globally the moral authority that must underlie
equitable approaches to promoting the goals of nuclear
disarmament and non proliferation. We have
consistently pursued a policy of conventional and
nuclear restraint, along with conflict resolution in
South Asia. We reaffirm our proposal for a strategic
restraint regime as an important way to promote the
cause of peace, stability and security in our region.
Pakistan, with the fifth largest population in the
world and only 0.4 per cent of the world’s total
greenhouse-gas emissions, is one hundred and thirty-
fifth on the global list of greenhouse-gas emitters.
Despite such a low contribution, climate change is
causing irrevocable damage to Pakistan, with
tremendous social, environmental and economic
impacts. While the world continues to discuss climate
change and its scientific basis and to seek a fair and
equitable outcome of the ongoing negotiations under
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC), climate change has already
become a reality for 170 million Pakistanis.
The present situation in Pakistan reconfirms our
extreme vulnerability to the adverse impacts of climate
change. It also complicates the post-flood
reconstruction and rehabilitation scenario in Pakistan.
It is in Pakistan’s interests to work vigorously and
creatively for an early and successful conclusion to the
ongoing climate-change negotiations under UNFCCC
auspices. Any lasting solution will have to respect the
principle of common but differentiated responsibilities
and the respective capabilities of countries.
With an active and empowered Parliament, a
vigilant and well-informed civil society, free media and
an independent judiciary, Pakistan’s democratic
Government is putting in place mechanisms to ensure
good and accountable governance at all levels in the
country. The democratic Government, inspired by the
vision of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, attaches special
attention to the promotion and protection of the human
rights of all segments of society, particularly women,
children and minorities. In May, Pakistan ratified the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Pakistan is now a State party to all 27 human rights
conventions.
We welcome the creation of the new composite
gender entity, UN Women. We hope it will lead the
efforts to promote rights, empowerment and equality
for women throughout the world.
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Pursuing peace and forging close regional
economic partnerships is an important pillar of our
strategy to pursue economic growth and development
in Pakistan. We are working through both the
Economic Cooperation Organization and the South
Asian Association for Regional Cooperation to further
deepen regional collaboration and expand people-to-
people contacts, including through inter-parliamentary
cooperation.
Our strategy and actions at the national level stem
from a firm belief that the primary responsibility and
central action in our pursuit for economic growth and
development is vested in our nation. Despite a
challenging economic and security environment, we
are pursuing an aggressive reform programme. That
agenda focuses on pro poor growth, boosting rural
economy and agriculture, affirmative action for women
and minorities and expansion of social safety nets. We
are conscious that that requires enhanced fiscal space,
for which we have introduced economic and tax
reforms in close collaboration with international
development partners. We have to work together to make this world a
safe and secure place for our children. We have to
make strenuous endeavours to achieve the ideals of the
United Nations Charter. We have to make this world a
prosperous place free from hunger, want and poverty.
We owe all this to our future generations. We cannot
afford to fail in this endeavour.