UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan said on Wednesday it hoped a UN General Assembly veto initiative would bring greater responsibility in the conduct of five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

The General Assembly decided on Tuesday to automatically meet within 10 days, if any of the five members used a veto to block a move in the Security Council.

The initiative also requires the veto user to defend its conduct in the General Assembly. The move would allow other members to debate it as well. The five veto wielders are Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.

The resolution containing the veto initiative was co-sponsored by 83 member states. Introduced by Liechtenstein, the resolution was adopted by consensus.

Explaining its position after the vote, Pakistan said it agreed with the overall objective of the resolution, which “is to bring greater responsibility in the conduct of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council”.

Pakistan appreciated the co-sponsors’ assurance that the resolution and its provisions would not prejudice the intergovernmental negotiations on Security Council reform. Pakistan opposes adding more permanent members to the council on the current pattern.

Pakistan noted that the trigger for holding the General Assembly session in the wake of a veto from a permanent member “is a situation where the Council is prevented from acting on questions relating to maintenance of international peace and security”.

Pakistan, however, pointed out that slight modifications to the language of this provision could have expressed this qualification with clarity.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2022