Islamabad: Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Chairman of the Senate Defence Committee has termed recent statement of Indian Defence Minister, Arun Jaitley where he demanded Pakistan to stop talking to the Kashmiri leadership or else India will not resume dialogue as an expression of the “hawkish, irresponsible and arrogant mindset of the new Indian leadership”.
He made these remarks as a keynote speaker in a seminar on “Journey to Peace and Co-Prosperity: The United Nations, Pakistan and the Republic of Korea”, here at the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad (ISSI), with the collaboration of the Embassy of Republic of Korea.
He also said that Pakistan and Korea had similar positions on the expansion of the UN Security Council and such expansion should be based on principles of equity, justice and fair representation and not result in creation of new power blocs of monopoly based on size and strength.
Earlier, the Korean Ambassador to Pakistan, H.E. Dr. Song Jong-hwan, in his address, said that the purpose to organize the seminar was to highlight Korean efforts at the bilateral and multilateral level with a focus on the UN Charter to maintain international peace and security. On the occasion, a special message from the UN Secretary General, Ban-ki-moon, a Korean national, was also conveyed to the participants, congratulating the organizers for highlighting the contributions of Pakistan and Korea for the improvement of bilateral relations, and for supporting the global mission of the United Nations.
UN Representative in Pakistan, Timo Pakala, also acknowledged that Pakistan has played a key role in the UN peacekeeping programme globally, most prominently in Somalia, Bosnia, Sierra Leone, Congo and Liberia; adding that Pakistan stood as the largest contributor of troops to UN peacekeeping missions in the world.
At the end of the seminar, Senator Mushahid Hussain presented reports of the Senate Defence Committee to Maj. Gen. Delali, the Head of the UNMOGIP as well as the UN Representative in Pakistan.