Recently, Pakistan has been elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nation Security Council (UNSC). Pakistan secured 129 votes out of 193 while its competitor, Kyrgyzstan gained 53 votes.
Pakistan’s victory left three lesson for us: first; the world not only recognises but also appreciates our sacrifices in the war on terror; second, we can win without the support of the West; and thirdly, the vote of our neighbouring countries, particularly India, in favour of Pakistan shows that the other regional issues can also be solved by mutual consensus.
Pakistan granted the status of most favourite nation (MFN) to India and India voted the former for the membership of UNSC. These developments in Pak-India ties is a good gesture for regional peace and progress. But this peace process can be made faster and continuous by active mediation of regional organisations like SAARC and ASEAN. I think Pakistan and India are two major powers in SAARC. Their relation with each other also affects the efficiency of the said organisation. By making SAARC more functional, we can not only eliminate poverty of the region but also boost up our regional trade to an extent that may become a hurdle in the way of future wars.
We have achieved nothing from hostilities in the past 60 odd years. Let us now give peace a chance to make its way through SAARC.
MUHAMMAD NADEEM
Lahore
