The United Nations Security Council adopted by consensus on Thursday, 5 November, a presidential statement on The Role of Diplomacy during Active Hostilities, an initiative initiated by Pakistan.
The adoption was reported by the Associated Press of Pakistan, citing Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar. The report attributes the account of the adoption to the Foreign Minister, and it identifies Pakistan as the initiator of the statement.
The statement is titled The Role of Diplomacy during Active Hostilities. Its subject is the place of diplomacy at a time when fighting is under way, and it addresses how diplomatic engagement can continue even after armed conflict has broken out.
According to the Foreign Office, the statement reaffirms the Security Council’s commitment to the peaceful settlement of disputes under Chapter VI of the UN Charter. That chapter of the Charter concerns the peaceful settlement of disputes, and the statement reaffirms the Council’s commitment to that approach.
The statement underscores the importance of maintaining diplomatic engagement even after the outbreak of armed conflict. That emphasis places diplomacy at the centre of the response to conflict, rather than treating it as something that ends when fighting begins.
The engagement described in the statement includes mediation, good offices and the maintenance of channels of communication. Those three elements — mediation, good offices and open channels — are named as the means by which diplomatic engagement can be maintained.
The purpose of maintaining that engagement, as set out in the statement, is to facilitate ceasefires and to promote durable political settlements. Ceasefires, which halt the fighting, and durable political settlements, which address the underlying dispute, are the two aims linked to the continued diplomatic effort.
The Foreign Office called the adoption an important contribution by Pakistan to the Council’s thematic work on international peace and security. That description places the statement within the Council’s broader work on peace and security, and it presents Pakistan’s role as a contribution to that work.
The Foreign Office described the text as a collective political reference point for the Council’s future engagement. That phrase suggests that the statement will serve as a shared point of reference for the Council when it deals with similar questions in future.
The adoption by consensus means that the statement was agreed without a vote against it, and that all members of the Council supported its adoption. Consensus, in this context, indicates agreement across the Council on the text and its contents.
The date of adoption, Thursday 5 November, is the point at which the statement was formally adopted. The initiative, initiated by Pakistan, had been brought forward by the country in its role on the Council, and the adoption marks the outcome of that initiative.
The statement’s focus on diplomacy during active hostilities addresses a specific question: how the international community should act when conflict is already under way. The answer given in the statement is that diplomatic engagement should be maintained, through mediation, good offices and channels of communication.
The reaffirmation of the commitment to peaceful settlement under Chapter VI of the Charter is the foundation of the statement. The Charter’s provisions on peaceful settlement provide the framework within which the statement is set, and the statement reaffirms that commitment.
The Foreign Office’s account of the statement provides the detail on its contents. The reaffirmation, the emphasis on engagement, the naming of mediation, good offices and channels of communication, and the aims of ceasefires and durable settlements are all drawn from that account.
Pakistan’s initiation of the statement, and its adoption by consensus, are the two facts that define the development. The first shows the origin of the initiative, and the second shows the level of support it received in the Council.
The description of the text as a collective political reference point for future engagement suggests that its significance extends beyond the moment of adoption. It is presented as a document that the Council can refer to in its future work on international peace and security.
Source: Associated Press of Pakistan, The Express Tribune
