Dar calls for ‘more democratic’ UN Security Council amid global crises

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday called for a “more democratic, representative and accountable” United Nations Security Council (UNSC), warning that unilateralism and selective application of international law were undermining global stability.

Speaking at a meeting of the United Nations Group of Friends of Global Governance, Dar said the international community was facing “multiple and interconnected crises,” including conflicts, climate emergencies, food insecurity and governance challenges linked to emerging technologies.

“In this uncertain environment, the world urgently needs renewed solidarity and a more effective system of global governance anchored in the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter,” he said.

The meeting, hosted by China, focused on reforming and improving global governance and addressing global challenges through multilateral cooperation.

Dar criticized what he described as a weakening of faith in collective action. “At the same time, faith in collective action is eroding, and unilateralism and the selective application of international law undermine global stability,” he said.

Calling for reform of the UN Security Council, the Foreign Minister said small and medium-sized states should have greater representation.

“The UN Security Council must become more democratic, representative and accountable,” he said. “The small and medium-sized states that constitute the vast majority of UN members must be fully and adequately represented on the Security Council.”

He also opposed expanding the number of permanent members of the council, arguing that “adding new permanent members would violate the fundamental principle of sovereign equality and would make the Council even less representative,” he said.

Dar reaffirmed Pakistan’s support for multilateralism, describing it as “not an abstract aspiration but a principled commitment rooted in cooperation and collective responsibility.”

Read: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reiterates appreciation for Pakistan’s constructive role amid US-Iran talks in meeting with Dar

He quoted Pakistan’s founder Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah as saying: “Pakistan will never fail to uphold the principles of the United Nations Charter.”

The Foreign Minister also praised China’s role in international affairs and endorsed President Xi Jinping’s Global Governance Initiative. “Pakistan deeply values ​​China’s role as a stabilizing force in international affairs,” he said, while describing Pakistan and China as “iron brothers and strategic cooperative partners at all times.”

Dar said the Chinese initiative represented “a timely, comprehensive and forward-looking framework to address the governance deficits of our times.” He added that Pakistan fully supported the initiative, which he said reinforced “the centrality of the United Nations while advocating for greater representation and voice for the Global South.”

The Foreign Minister said Pakistan believed that international law should be “applied uniformly and without double standards.” “The sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states must be respected,” he said. “Cooperation, rather than confrontation, should be the default setting in international relations.”

Dar also called for disputes to be resolved through “dialogue and diplomacy” and said people living under foreign occupation should be allowed to exercise their right to self-determination “in accordance with international law and relevant UN resolutions.”

Concluding his remarks, Dar said Pakistan would continue to work with China and other international partners to promote “lasting peace and stability around the world.”

Read more: Foreign Minister Dar to visit US Secretary Rubio in Washington after UN Security Council engagements in New York

The Deputy Prime Minister visited New York at the invitation of Foreign Minister Yi to attend the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Open Debate on “Maintaining International Peace and Security: Upholding the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations Charter and Strengthening the United Nations-Centered International System.”

The debate was held on May 26 under China’s presidency of the Security Council, which called for restraint and reduction of tensions in the Middle East, warning that another protracted conflict would jeopardize regional peace and further strain the fragile international order.

Addressing the open debate, he said the principle of peaceful settlement must apply equally to all long-standing disputes on the Security Council’s agenda, referring to ongoing efforts to achieve a resolution to the conflict between Iran and the United States.

“The whole world is watching. We must succeed in the interests of regional and global peace and security,” Dar told the 15-member Security Council. “As a friendly neighbor to Iran and brother Gulf countries, Pakistan consistently advocates for restraint, reduction of tensions and return to diplomacy.”

Dar said that during his recent visit to Beijing, Pakistan and China announced a five-point initiative for peace and stability in the Gulf and Middle East, warning that another conflict would pose a serious threat not only to the region but to the world at large.

“Another prolonged conflict would benefit no one,” warned the Foreign Minister. “It would jeopardize regional peace, disrupt global energy flows, deepen humanitarian suffering and strain an already fragile international order.”