NEW YORK (APP) – Pakistan Thursday stressed the need for resumption of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine for a peaceful solution to the raging conflict, after abstaining from a vote in the UN General Assembly on a resolution calling for Moscow to withdraw its troops from the country, exactly one year after its invasion.
Sponsored by 75 countries, 141 members voted in support of the resolution, exceeding the two-thirds threshold needed to pass it. Seven members — Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua, Russia and Syria — voted against the resolution. Thirty-two members abstained, including Pakistan, China, India, Iran and South Africa.
Speaking in explanation of his vote, Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir Akram said he had abstained on the resolution, which was drafted by Ukraine, despite efforts by the co-sponsors to moderate its tone, as some provisions were still inconsistent with Islamabad’s principled position. On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had telephoned his Pakistani counterpart, Dr. Arif Alvi, to seek Pakistan’s support.
Pakistan, he said, fully supports the resolution’s call for respect for the principle of sovereignty, sovereign equality and territorial integrity of States and non-acquisition of territory by the threat or use of force. States cannot be torn apart by the use of force, the Pakistani envoy said.
But, Ambassador Akram said, he regrets that these principles have not been universally applied and respected for instance in the situation of foreign occupation and the ongoing attempt at the illegal and forcible annexation of Jammu and Kashmir.
His reference to the situation in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir drew a response from a representative of India, but which was effectively countered by a Pakistani diplomat.
