The UN and Pakistan

Kashmir at the UN

• India took the Kashmir issue to the Security Council on 1 January 1948.
• Resolutions of the Security Council and the UN Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) in 1948 and 1949 called for a ceasefire and a free and impartial plebiscite to let the people decide.
• UNMOGIP (UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan) has monitored the ceasefire line since 1949, one of the UN's oldest missions.
• Pakistan continues to call for the implementation of these resolutions.

Peacekeeping

• Pakistan's first deployment was to the Congo in 1960.
• It has served in dozens of missions, including in Somalia, Bosnia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.
• It has consistently been among the top troop-contributing countries, and many Pakistani peacekeepers have lost their lives in UN service.

Diplomacy and leadership

• Sir Zafarullah Khan presided over the General Assembly (1962) and the ICJ (1970–73).
• Pakistan chaired the Group of 77 and China in 2022, leading developing countries in climate negotiations that created the loss and damage fund at COP27.
• It introduced the resolution creating the International Day to Combat Islamophobia (2022).
• It works with the OIC group on issues such as Palestine and Kashmir.

UN agencies in Pakistan

UN agencies support Pakistan in health (polio eradication, maternal and child health), education, food security, hosting Afghan refugees, climate adaptation and disaster relief.

Conclusion

The UN remains central to Pakistan's foreign policy, as a forum for raising the Kashmir issue, for supporting peace and development, and for asserting the principles of sovereignty and self-determination.