High-level Meeting to Commemorate the Seventy-fifth Anniversary of the United Nations
21 September 2020
Pakistan
His Excellency Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi
Statement Summary
MAKHDOOM SHAH MAHMOOD QURESHI, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, said that the diamond jubilee of the United Nations is a landmark occasion, one on which to celebrate the Organization’s journey and exciting prospects. The United Nations was hope borne of the ashes of unmitigated suffering and misplaced notions of superiority. It addressed the need to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war and to reaffirm the fundamental rights of men and women. It has helped prevent the kind of destruction visited upon humanity twice within a generation, advanced arms control, facilitated decolonization and addressed threats to the environment. “But our euphoria must not blind us to its failings,” he said, adding that the Organization is only as good as its Member States. The disputes concerning Jammu and Kashmir and regarding Palestine are the Organization’s most glaring disputes. The people of Jammu and Kashmir are still awaiting the United Nations to help them craft their right to self?determination. The very forces that led to the Second World War, racism and fascism, are taking the shape of rising xenophobia and Islamophobia. Pakistan has been and remains an ardent believer in multilateralism.
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