Speakers at a roundtable discussion to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations Organisation (UNO), said that the UN is playing tremendous role for keeping peace, promoting democracy and prosperity in the world.
The discussion was organised by the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs (PIIA) here on Saturday. The Consul-General of the Russian Federation in Karachi, A V Demidov, said that the UN Organisation was formed after the World War II, and five powers at that time were given permanent membership of this international body.
Since then, he said, the UNO is playing its role mainly for marinating peace in the world. He said that the UN has played its role to resolve various conflicts in the different countries in this period. In recent years, he said, the UN is playing its role for curbing terrorism and extremism in the world.
He said that his country supports the UN for maintaining peace and curbing terrorism. Regarding the possibility of permanent membership to some other countries, he said it would be very difficult to include some more permanent members in the UN body. He added that selection of new permanent members would not be easy due to various reasons. He also opposed the idea to give UN permanent membership to the regional organisations like Asean, African Union, etc. He said that these regional organisations work for their regional interests.
Regarding use of veto power by the five permanent member countries, he said his country (Russia) had used its veto power in very rare cases. Dr Tanweer Khalid, Professor of Political Science, University of Karachi, appreciated the UN role and said it is a very important body for maintaining peace in the world. She said that the UN role, mainly for promoting democracy and its development program for agriculture, environment, education and health and on humanitarian front, was more successful. However, the UN could not play its role on political issues successfully, she added.
She said that so many issues, including Pak-India conflict on Kashmir, Palestine, and other issues are still to be resolved. She said that there are only five permanent members of the UN, which use their veto power in their own interest. She suggested that more countries should be given permanent membership of the UN.