Pakistan urges stronger UN mediation to prevent conflicts

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has called for greater emphasis on mediation and preventive diplomacy at the United Nations, saying dialogue and negotiated engagement remain the only durable way to resolve conflicts, including amid the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.

Speaking at a UN General Assembly debate on strengthening mediation in conflict prevention and resolution on Monday, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, said Islamabad had consistently supported restraint, de-escalation and diplomacy in recent tensions involving Iran and the United States. He said Pakistan was continuing efforts to help advance a lasting outcome for regional and global peace and stability, given its ties with Iran, the Gulf countries and the United States.

Addressing the Assembly, the envoy argued that international disputes should be addressed before they deepen into wider crises and said mediation should be treated as a core element of conflict prevention rather than something used only after violence escalates. He told the UN that conflicts often emerge when diplomacy is postponed, dialogue is blocked and disputes are left unresolved.

Attributing Pakistan’s position to both principle and practice, Ambassador Ahmad referred to Security Council Resolution 2788, which he said was adopted unanimously in July 2025 on Pakistan’s initiative. According to him, the resolution reaffirmed the importance of Chapter VI of the UN Charter, encouraged mediation and the secretary general’s good offices, and highlighted the role of regional and subregional organisations in the peaceful settlement of disputes.

The Pakistani envoy said greater investment was needed in early-warning systems, quiet diplomacy and preventive engagement before confrontations take hold. He also said mediation efforts should be grounded in international law and should tackle the underlying causes of conflicts instead of only containing their effects. He further called for predictable financing for the UN Mediation Support Unit and closer cooperation between the UN and regional organisations.

“Conflicts are not inevitable. They are often the result of diplomacy delayed, dialogue denied, and disputes left to fester,” Ambassador Ahmad told the Assembly.

“The first responsibility of the United Nations is not merely to respond to conflicts after they erupt, but to prevent them before they consume lives, regions and generations,” he added.

“Mediation must become the guiding principle of prevention, not an instrument of crisis management,” he said calling for mediation to move to the centre of international peace efforts.

He also said lasting peace could not be secured while rights were denied or international norms were violated, stating: “Lasting peace cannot be built on the denial of rights, including the right to self-determination, normalisation of foreign occupation, aggression and violation of treaties,”

Later the same day, Ambassador Ahmad spoke at an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine that had been convened at Romania’s request. There, he warned that prolonged conflicts raise the danger of miscalculation and escalation, and said unresolved wars often produce spillover effects and broader confrontation in different regions.

On Ukraine, he reiterated Pakistan’s support for a negotiated solution and cautioned against depending on military means to secure peace. Referring to efforts aimed at ending the war, he said an early return to a US-facilitated dialogue process offered the most credible way forward.

“We, therefore, see an early resumption of the United States-facilitated dialogue process as the most credible path forward,” he said at the Security Council. “The true test of our commitment to peace is not how we condemn conflicts after they break out, but how proactively we prevent them in the first place,”

“Mediation is the bridge between confrontation and peace,” he added, summing up Pakistan’s position.

Pakistan has maintained that dialogue, diplomacy and adherence to international law offer the only sustainable route to settling international disputes, including longstanding conflicts that continue to affect regional and global peace and security.