Pakistan restates diplomatic role at UN Security Council

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan told an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Thursday that it had intensified diplomatic contacts with regional and international parties to help advance the next steps under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between Iran and the United States, which is aimed at ending the Middle East conflict.

Speaking at the session, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, said Islamabad viewed diplomacy, dialogue and negotiations as the only viable path to a comprehensive and lasting settlement of the crisis in the region. The meeting was convened by Bahrain after recent Iranian attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait heightened tensions in the Gulf.

Ambassador Ahmad said Pakistan had maintained a principled stance against any use of force outside the limits of international law. He said this position applied both to what he described as unwarranted strikes against Iran and to attacks targeting Gulf Cooperation Council states. He added that Pakistan had condemned the attacks on the GCC countries and reiterated full solidarity with Bahrain and Kuwait.

At the meeting, the Pakistani envoy also said his country had remained engaged from the outset because it believed any further escalation would deepen human suffering and pose serious risks to regional and international peace and security.

"It has been Pakistan's consistent belief that the only way to settle the situation in the region, conclusively and comprehensively, is through diplomacy, dialogue and negotiations," Ambassador Ahmad said in his remarks.