UN GA elected five new members to Security Council: Dr. Fai
New York. June 6, 2024. “On behalf of the people of Kashmir, we American citizens of Kashmiri origin offer our sincerest congratulations to the State of Denmark on its election to be the non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2025-2026. The ten non-permanent members of the Security Council are elected by the 193 members of the General Assembly for periods of two years. Election requires two-thirds of the votes cast. Other four members elected are Greece, Pakistan, Panama and Somalia,” said Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Chairman, World Forum for Peace & Justice.
It is worth mentioning here that earlier Denmark pleaded if elected to the Security Council, “we want to do our part to contribute to international peace and security.” It added that “our dedicated efforts to make a difference for the people, who suffer from wars and conflict and are driven from their home, provide a solid foundation for our Security Council campaign.” Lars Lokke Rasmussen, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark said today during the press briefing that Denmark will play bridge building and will give energy to the Council.
We were also heartened to know that Jeppe Kofod, the then Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark said on October 1, 2021, that “We are fully in line with the EU and the UN to advocate for peaceful [and] diplomatic dialogue on the Jammu and Kashmir issue. This is what we want to see and what we respect.
“Today, we remind the State of Denmark of the long-neglected responsibility of the Security Council towards the people of Kashmir to whom, through a number of resolutions, it extended the promise that they would be enabled freely to determine their own status. The shelving of this question by the Security Council has encouraged India not only to embark on a campaign of terror and violent repression but also enacting new draconian laws to change the demography of Kashmir,” Fai added.
Dr. Fai explained that the UN resolutions on Kashmir are not of a routine nature. Their text was meticulously negotiated between India and Pakistan, and it is after each provision was accepted by the two Governments concerned that they were adopted by the United Nations Security Council. The assent of the two governments was conveyed in writing to the UN Security Council. They explicitly recognize the right of the people of Kashmir to determine the future status of their homeland. This right remains unaffected by the nonperformance by either side of the provisions of the resolutions.
As Michelle Bachelet, then the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said on May 5, 2021, that “When human rights violations amount to threats to international peace and security, it is the role of the Security Council to assume the leadership given by its mandate, and act swiftly.” Dr. Fai underscored that the UN Security Council has the ability to change the miscarriage of justice and to put an end to the violence in Kashmir and to take action to resolve the ancient dispute of Kashmir peacefully. We are hopeful that newly elected play a role in making it happen.
“Given the interest of newly elected five members – Greece, Pakistan, Panama, Denmark and Somalia in peace, security and stability in the region and the support for democracy and human freedoms, we urge them to forge a peaceful political solution to the conflict through their good offices as the newly elected member of the UN Security Council,” Fai concluded.
Dr. Fai is also the Secretary General, World Kashmir Awareness Forum.
He can be reached at: WhatsApp: 1-202-607-6435. Or. gnfai2003@yahoo.com
www.kashmirawareness.org
