WEB DESK: Pakistan has once again rejected proposals to expand the category of permanent members in the UN Security Council (UNSC), warning that such a move would deepen dysfunction within the 15-member body and undermine the principle of sovereign equality.
Addressing a resumed session of the long-running Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) on Security Council reform on Friday, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, stated that granting individual states permanent membership runs counter to the foundational principles guiding reform efforts.
Speaking on behalf of the Italy/Pakistan-led Uniting for Consensus (UfC) group, Ambassador Ahmad reiterated Pakistan’s support for expanding only the non-permanent, elected seats to strengthen democratic representation under the slogan: “Reform for All Privilege for None.”
The reform process, which formally began in the United Nations General Assembly in February 2009, focuses on five key issues: categories of membership, the veto question, regional representation, the size of an expanded Council, and the Council’s working methods and relationship with the General Assembly.
Efforts to move forward remain stalled as the G-4 nations India, Brazil, Germany, and Japan continue to advocate for new permanent seats. In contrast, the UfC bloc argues that adding permanent members would merely create new centers of privilege and further entrench inequality within the Council.
As an alternative, UfC has proposed establishing a new category of longer-term, renewable seats without granting permanent status to allow greater participation while preserving rotation and accountability.
Currently, the Security Council consists of five permanent members United Kingdom, China, France, Russia, and United States — alongside ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms.
Ambassador Ahmad stressed that the push for individual permanent seats cannot serve as a credible basis for reform. According to him, a large majority of UN member states recognize that permanent membership and the veto power lie at the heart of the Council’s recurring paralysis and lack of decisive action.
“This is not a marginal issue,” he emphasized. “It is the central fault line affecting the Council’s legitimacy and performance.”
At a time when multilateralism faces mounting pressure and calls grow louder for a more effective and representative UN, he argued that demands for special privileges should have no place in the reform dialogue.
Reaffirming Pakistan’s long-standing position, the envoy cautioned that introducing new permanent members would not dilute the disproportionate influence of the existing five; instead, it would risk institutionalizing and expanding that dominance.
“Expanding an exclusive club does not make it democratic,” he remarked, adding that enlarging the circle of permanence would still leave it fundamentally closed
