Pakistan and the United Nations

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Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Flag of the United Nations.svg Flag of Pakistan.svg
United Nations membership
Represented by
MembershipFull member
Since30 September 1947 (1947-09-30)
UNSC seat Non-permanent

Pakistan officially joined the United Nations (UN) on 30 September 1947 just over a month after it came into existence. Today, it is a charter member and participates in all [ citation needed ] of the UN's specialised agencies and organisations. Pakistan has been elected seven times (tied with Colombia) into the UN Security Council, with the most recent term in 2013. It is also one of the countries which has had a diplomat, Muhammad Zafarullah Khan, serve a term as the President of the United Nations General Assembly.

Contents

Representation

Pakistan maintains a permanent mission to the UN, which is currently headed by Ambassador Munir Akram in New York. There is a second mission based at the UNO office in Geneva, Switzerland.

Pakistan in UN Agencies

Pakistan participates in all of the UN’s specialized agencies. These include: United Nations Development program (UNDP), the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations High Commission for refugees (UNHCR), and UN Habitat.

Peacekeeping

The Pakistani military has played a key role in the UN's peacekeeping programme in different parts of the world, most prominently in Somalia, Sierra Leone, Bosnia, Congo and Liberia. The first time that Pakistani troops participated in a UN peacekeeping mission was in Congo in 1960. Pakistani troops have served in 23 countries so far, in a total of 41 UN peacekeeping missions. 141 Pakistani soldiers have been martyred whilst partaking in peacekeeping missions. As of 2009, Pakistan stood as the largest contributor of troops to United Nations peacekeeping missions in the world, and was followed by Bangladesh and India. [1]

Politics

Pakistan's Mission

The international community considers The state of Jammu and Kashmir divided into three parts occupied by India, Pakistan and a part by China. In June 1947, Sir Cyril Radcliffe set up 2 Boundary Commissions to"demarcate the boundaries of the two parts of the Punjab on the basis of ascertaining the contiguous majority areas of Muslims and non-Muslims. In doing so, it will also take into account other factors."At the time, Jammu and Kasmir had 4 million inhabitants, majority, Muslim, with the Maharaja being Hindu. In September 1947, he started a campaign to drive many Afghan Mujahideen sent by Pakistan, for the sole purpose of destabilisation, out of Kashmir. over 200,00 fled and finally the Muslims rose in rebellion. The Maharaja initially fought back but appealed for assistance to the Governor-General Louis Mountbatten, who agreed on the condition that the ruler accede to India. Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession on 26 October 1947, which was accepted by the Governor General of India the next day. Once the Instrument of Accession was signed, Indian soldiers entered Kashmir with orders to evict the rebels. India took the matter to the United Nations. [2] The UN resolution asked Pakistan to pull its Army out from Kashmir but allowed India to leave only the minimum number of troops needed to keep civil order so that a referendum can be held under UN observation. After the required withdrawal of Pakistani troops in Kashmir (Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan) did not occur for several years Jammu & Kashmir National Conference which was the largest political party in the state recommended convening the constituent assembly in a resolution passed on 27 October 1950.[7] On 1 May 1951 Karan Singh then Head of state of Jammu and Kashmir issued a proclamation directing the formation of this assembly. The assembly was to be constituted of elected representatives of the people of the state. For purposes of this election the state was divided into constituencies containing population of 40,000 or as near thereto as possible and each electing one member.[8] The United Nations Security Council stated in its resolution 91 dated 30 March 1951 that it would not consider elections held only in Indian administered Kashmir to be a substitute for a free and impartial plebiscite including the people of the entire state Jammu and Kashmir.[7]

However, the 1951 elections were said to be totally rigged. [3] [4] Polls were conducted in Indian administered Kashmir in August–September 1951. There were no women registered as voters in 1951 Jammu and Kashmir elections. But there was one woman who contested who lost her deposit.[9] Jammu & Kashmir National Conference won 75 seats under the leadership of Sheikh Abdullah.[10][11] On 31 October 1951 he addressed the assembly for the first time and called on it to frame the states constitution and to give a 'reasoned conclusion regarding accession'. On 15 February 1954 the assembly members who were present cast a unanimous vote ratifying the state's accession to India.[13][14] Constitution was drafted which came into force on 26 January 1957. Part II, section (3) of the constitution states 'The State of Jammu and Kashmir is and shall be an integral part of the Union of India'.In 1956 the Constituent Assembly finalised its constitution, which declared the whole of the former Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir to be 'an integral part of the Union of India'. Elections were held the next year for a Legislative Assembly. This section cannot be legally amended as per provisions of Part XII of the constitution. The United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) was deployed to supervise the ceasefire between India and Pakistan. UNMOGIP's functions were to investigate complaints of ceasefire violations and submit findings to each party and to the U.N. Secretary-General.

Kashmir conflict

The UN remains a keen observer of the Kashmir conflict between Pakistan and India, centring on the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir. Since the transfer of power to both countries in 1947 of the divided territory, the UN has played an extensive role in regulating and monitoring the dispute.

UN Security Council resolutions

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">1947 Poonch rebellion</span> Political rebellion in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948

In Spring of 1947, an uprising against the Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir broke out in the Poonch jagir, a region bordering the Rawalpindi district of West Punjab and the Hazara district of the North-West Frontier Province. The rebellion was initiated by a "No-tax campaign" and by the news of the 1947 Jammu massacres which angered the locals who were veterans of the Second World War to take up arms. The leader of the rebellion, Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, escaped to Lahore by the end of August 1947 and persuaded the Pakistani authorities to back the rebellion. This rebellion eventually led to the First Kashmir War fought between India and Pakistan. The Poonch jagir has since been divided across Azad Kashmir, administered by Pakistan and the state of Jammu and Kashmir, administered by India.

References

  1. ↑ UN says peacekeepers overstretched, Al Jazeera English, 27 Jan 2009
  2. ↑ "United Nations Official Document". Un.org. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  3. ↑ Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace; by Sumatra Bose. Harvard University Press. 2009. pp. 55–57.
  4. ↑ Ved Bhasin. "Riots changed J&K politics". Kashmir Life.
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