UNITED NATIONS – Pakistan has been elected to the powerful UN Security Council as a non-permanent member for a two-year-term beginning on January 1, 2012, putting it in the club of 10 nations which currently includes India. Pakistan won 129 votes in the 193-member General Assembly. Pakistan was vying for the seat against Kyrgyzstan in the Asia-Pacific category. There were no abstention.
To win a seat in the UN Security Council, a country must receive the support of at least 129 members. Pakistan was one of the nine countries vying for five non-permanent seats on the Security Council that will fall vacant on December 31, 2011.
Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon said, “It is a great day for the subcontinent. We have an opportunity to bring things together. The Indian Ocean is important. Africa, Asia, we are going to work together.
