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President
Musharraf speaking at the UN General Assembly
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By
IOL South Asia Correspondent
NEW
DELHI, September 28 (IslamOnline) - Pakistan on Friday was elected
non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for a two-year term
beginning January 1 next year.
Other
states elected for the UNSC seat for the same period are Germany,
Spain, Chile and Angola. All the five were candidates chosen in
advance by their regional groups: Africa, Asia, Latin America and
Western Europe and were expected to win unopposed.
But,
announcing the result of the secret ballot, UN General Assembly
president Jan Kavan said that while Pakistan had received 172 votes, a
single vote had also been cast for India. This means that New Delhi
voted for itself instead of casting its vote for its regional group
candidate.
The
new members will replace Colombia, Ireland, Mauritius, Norway and
Singapore, which leave the council on December 31.
The
UNSC also includes five permanent members -- Britain, China, France,
Russia and the United States -- and five other elected members, one of
them representing Eastern Europe. Bulgaria, Cameroon, Guinea, Mexico
and Syria were elected last year until the end of 2003.
The
five nations elected today will serve as rotating non-permanent
members of the UNSC for the next two years.
Pakistan's
joining the UNSC is seen as a triumph for the Pakistani foreign policy
and setback for India which tried hard to stall this prospect and has
already started working on ways to minimize Pakistan's influence in
the world body during the UNSC membership.
