UNITED NATIONS, Jul 22 (APP): The UN Security Council Tuesday unanimously adopted a Pakistan-sponsored resolution urging member-states to take measures for the effective implementation of the 15-member body’s resolutions for peaceful settlement of disputes —
such as Kashmir and Palestine.
The Council took action on the resolution at a meeting, organized under the “Maintenance of international peace and security” agenda item, that highlighted concerning trends of protracted and unresolved disputes threatening international peace and security, and calling for reinforced collective efforts to address them — one of the two signature events proposed by Pakistan under its presidency of the world body’s power centre.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Senator Ishaq Dar, who especially came to New York over the weekend to preside over the high-level event, put the resolution to vote, and then banged the gravel confirming its adoption. The outcome reflected Pakistan’s leadership role in spearheading adoption of a resolution by the Council – a reflection of effective diplomacy in action.
Tuesday’s meeting was convened to debate “Promoting International Peace and Security through Multilateralism and the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes”.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who opened the debate, commended DPM/FM Dar for convening the debate and for utilizing the Council’s presidency to put forward a resolution urging all Member States to make full use of the tools in collective pursuit of global peace, saying “This is needed now more than ever.”
“The architects of the United Nations Charter recognized that the peaceful resolution of disputes is the lifeline when geopolitical tensions escalate… when unresolved disputes fuel the flames of conflict …and when states lose trust in
each other,” the UN chief said.
Analysts say no crisis illustrates the gap between words and action better than the Council’s resolution of April 21, 1948, which called for a plebiscite, to be held under the UN auspices, to allow the people in the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir to determine their own future.
Under the terms of the resolution, the Security Council urged all member-states to utilize effectively the mechanisms for pacific settlement of disputes as outlined in Article 33 of the United Nations Charter. These include negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, resort to regional agencies or arrangements, or other peaceful means of their own choice.
In this regard, the Council reaffirmed its role, under Chapter VI of the UN Charter, to recommend appropriate procedures or methods of adjustment for the peaceful settlement of disputes, including by taking into consideration that legal disputes should, as a general rule, be referred by the parties to the International Court of Justice.
The Council encouraged the Secretary-General to ensure that the United Nations is able to lead and support mediation and preventive diplomacy efforts and to continue to use his good offices. It also calls on member states to support and cooperate with the UN chief in this regard.
The resolution requests the Secretary-General to provide, one year following the adoption of this resolution, concrete recommendations for further strengthening the mechanisms for peaceful settlement of disputes.
The Council also urges regional and sub-regional organizations to enhance their efforts for peaceful settlement of disputes, consistent with the United Nations Charter and relevant Security Council resolutions.
“Around the world,” the UN Secretary-General said in his remarks, “we see an utter disregard for — if not outright violations of — international law — including international human rights law, international refugee law, international humanitarian law, and the UN Charter itself, without any accountability.
“These failures to uphold international obligations are coming at a time of widening geopolitical divides and conflicts,” with staggering costs — measured in human lives, shattered communities, and lost futures, Guterres said.
“We need look no further than the horror show in Gaza — with a level of death and destruction without parallel in recent times.”
Diplomacy, he said, may not have always succeeded in preventing conflicts, violence and instability, but it still holds the power to stop them.