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 Group of Friends of Global Governance at the United Nations, 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, organised by China, focused on reforming and improving global governance and addressing global challenges through multilateral cooperation.

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

Calling for reform of the UN Security Council, the foreign minister said smaller and medium-sized states should be given greater representation.

“The UN Security Council must become more democratic, representative, and accountable,” he said. “The small and medium States which form the vast majority of the UN Members must be fully and adequately represented on the Security Council.”

He also opposed the expansion of the council’s permanent membership, arguing that “Adding new permanent members would violate the fundamental principle of sovereign equality and 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: China’s FM 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 be found lacking in upholding 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 stabilising force in international affairs,” he said, while describing Pakistan and China as “iron brothers and all-weather strategic cooperative partners”.

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

The foreign minister said Pakistan believed 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 working with China and other international partners to promote “lasting peace and stability throughout the world”.

Read More: FM Dar to visit US Secretary Rubio in Washington after UNSC engagements in New York

The deputy prime minister visited New York on the invitation of FM Yi to attend the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Open Debate on “Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Upholding the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter and Strengthening the UN-centred International System”.

The debate was held on May 26 under China’s presidency of the Security Council, which called for restraint and de-escalation in the Middle East, warning that another prolonged conflict would endanger 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 US.

“The entire world is watching. We must succeed in the interest of regional and global peace and security,” Dar told the 15-member Security Council. “As a friendly neighbour of Iran and brotherly countries of the Gulf, Pakistan consistently stands for restraint, de-escalation and a return to diplomacy.”

Dar said that during his recent visit to Beijing, Pakistan and China had 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 wider world.

“Another prolonged conflict would serve no one,” the foreign minister warned. “It would endanger regional peace, disrupt global energy flows, deepen humanitarian suffering and strain an already fragile international order.”