Pakistan, 2010

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.