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Mr. Chairman,
My delegation aligns itself with the statement delivered by the Islamic Republic of Iran on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement.
Mr. Chairman,
Describing the work of the organization, the famous UN diplomat, Sir Brian Urquhart once said: "we [did not] suspect that our efforts to build a brave new world would, in some cases, soon degenerate into fixed and parochial bureaucracies repeating, year by year, in excruciatingly tedious intergovernmental meetings, ideas which had become almost meaningless clichés… ideas from member states or other sources begot studies which produced reports which setup staff which produced more reports which were considered by meetings which asked for further reports";
Looking at the work of this committee, one cannot help feel that the 'Special Committee' could not be far from Sir Brian's mind.
We consider this to be an injustice both to the mandate of the Special Committee as well its innumerable potential to contribute towards enhancing the ability of the UN to achieve its purposes as well as more effective functioning of the organization.
Mr. Chairman,
My delegation considers the annual thematic debate on pacific settlement of disputes to be useful. To this end, we take note of the proposed subtopic for the next session on 'exchange of information on State practices regarding the use of conciliation'.
We consider that our discussions should not be limited as mere academic indulgence, but instead, propel efforts to place peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter, as the cornerstone of the UN peace and security architecture.
This entails addressing threats to international peace and security emanating from prevailing inter-state conflicts and from instances of foreign occupation and denial of self-determination.
The discussions on the issue of sanctions, is equally compelling.
As sanctions are a means to an end as well as a relatively peaceful means of coercion, it is important to maintain the credibility of sanctions and not to use them as a prelude to the use of force.
Pakistan has consistently held that sanctions should be imposed with the utmost caution and only when other peaceful options are inadequate or exhausted.
The threat of sanctions could be more effective than the actual imposition of sanctions and thus, conditional or deferred sanctions should be considered wherever possible.
While we note that the Security Council has sought to place greater emphasis on imposing targeted sanctions, the imperative to streamline and bring in greater transparency, objectivity and predictability to avoid the abuse of sanctions, cannot be over-emphasized.
Mr. Chairman,
We have heard, with interest to the exposition provided by the delegation of Mexico on their proposal concerning the substantive and procedural aspects of Article 51.
While we look forward to further discussions, my delegation, is nonetheless, deeply concerned by efforts by some to reinterpret fundamental provisions of the Charter including pre-emptive, preventive or protective use of force.
This self-serving artifice has no place, both in international law as well as the UN Charter.
I thank you.