At the United Nations, Pakistan has reiterated its commitment to promote peace and cooperation in its own and adjacent regions.
Participating in a debate of the UN General Assembly on the Zones of peace, trust and cooperation of Central Asia, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Munir Akram said Pakistan actively advocated the creation of a nuclear weapons free zone in South Asia for over two decades. This, he however, was thwarted by the nuclear explosions initiated by our neighbor.
Munir Akram pointed out that the recently held Pakistan-China-Afghanistan trilateral ministerial meeting agreed to extend the CPEC to Afghanistan. He hoped that this will further reinforce the close connection between Central Asia and Afghanistan, Pakistan and China.
“In a world where conflicts and tensions have proliferated in several regions, the creation of zones of peace in critical parts of the world can serve as a vital instrument for stability and an avenue for regional and cross-regional cooperation,” Ambassador Munir Akram said.
The Central Asia peace zone includes five countries — Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
In his remarks, Ambassador Akram said Pakistan has made consistent efforts to promote peace and cooperation in its own and adjacent regions, advocating the creation of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in South Asia for more than two decades. “This was thwarted by the nuclear explosions initiated by our neighbour,” the Pakistani envoy said, referring to India’s 1998 nuclear blasts.
Continuing, Ambassador Akram said Pakistan had also supported the creation of a zone of peace in the Indian Ocean, as declared by a 1972 General Assembly resolution.
“We are concerned that the Indian Ocean is being drawn into a geo-strategic construct that implies renewed great power rivalry and the emergence of new military alliances,” the Pakistani envoy said, adding that such moves could destabilize parts of Asia, the Pacific and even Africa.
Pakistan, he said, had a vital stake in the preservation of Central Asia as a Zone of Peace, as it shares membership with states of that region in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as well as Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO). —NNI
