By Awais Saleem, IANS,
Islamabad: US President Barack Obama’s support to India for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council has upset Pakistan which said “it will make the process of reforming Security Council even more complicated”.
A spokesman of the Foreign Office Tuesday said that “it has taken notice of the (US) president’s statement because the stance of Pakistan regarding reforms in UNSC is based on principles”.
“The expansionist designs of India in itself are contradictory to the charter of Security Council,” he said.
“India’s aggression towards neighbouring countries and the violation of UN resolutions on Kashmir are a proof of the apprehensions of Pakistan,” a statement said, adding that “the US should focus on the morals instead of backing power politics in the region”.
Obama Monday backed the Indian bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. Pakistan has always maintained that any such step will disturb the balance of power in the region.
Obama told Indian parliamentarians in an address: “Indeed, the just and sustainable international order that America seeks includes a United Nations that is efficient, effective, credible and legitimate.
“That is why I can say today – in the years ahead, I look forward to a reformed UN Security Council that includes India as a permanent member.”
The US president was in India Nov 6-9 on the first leg of a four-nation Asia tour that will also take him to Indonesia, South Korea and Japan.
Security analyst Brig (retd) Aslam Ghumman said that “India will have the veto power if it was elected as a permanent member of UNSC”.
“It will mean that India will never let the Kashmir problem resolve,” he said.
Political expert Hasan Askari Rizvi said that “the US backing for India should not be seen as a surprise because it had huge political and business interests in the country”.
“It is time for Pakistan to re-think its foreign policy to assert the importance of the country in the region,” he argued.
An editorial in daily Jang said that “the speech of president Obama in the Indian parliament was a clear indication of US inclination to the south Asian giant”.
“The backing for UNSC permanent seat for India is against the earlier stated policy of US in this regard,” it recalled.
“The Pakistani media and policy makers had expressed happiness that Obama did not mention Pakistan in connection with Mumbai attacks initially but the joy has been spoiled by the speech on Monday”, the editorial said, adding that “it also exposed the envoys in Washington that had repeatedly been claiming breakthrough in the relationship with US”.
(Awais Saleem can be contacted at [email protected])