New york: A 40-member delegation from the United States Army War College, including five female officers and led by Col. Stephan Walters, visited the Pakistan Mission to the United Nations today for a country briefing.
Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, briefed the delegation on Pakistan’s active engagement with the work of the United Nations and its contributions to multilateral diplomacy. He also highlighted the broad contours of Pakistan’s foreign policy and elaborated on Pakistan’s perspective on key regional and international developments.
Welcoming the participants to the Pakistan Mission, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad reaffirmed Pakistan’s deep and abiding commitment to the United Nations and multilateralism. He described the UN as the central platform for collective action on international peace and security, development, human rights, climate change, and emerging challenges including artificial intelligence and information technology.
He e
mphasized that today’s global challenges are too complex and interconnected for any single country to address alone, underscoring the continued importance of multilateral cooperation through the UN platform.
The Permanent Representative highlighted the need for the UN to evolve in response to changing global realities and noted ongoing reform efforts, including revitalization of the General Assembly and reform of the Security Council. He reiterated Pakistan’s support for democratic, transparent, and accountable reform of the Security Council while opposing the creation of new permanent seats.
Ambassador Ahmad underscored Pakistan’s active role as a current member of the Security Council in promoting international peace and security, including through peacekeeping, counterterrorism, regional stability, and advocacy for peaceful settlement of disputes. Referring to Pakistan’s recent initiative under its Security Council Presidency, he noted the unanimous adoption of a Council resolution reaffirming commitment
to the peaceful settlement of disputes under Chapter VI of the UN Charter.
Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad also highlighted the broad-based and dynamic relationship between Pakistan and the United States, encompassing security, defense, intelligence, counter-terrorism, economic cooperation, trade, and strong people-to-people ties. He emphasized Pakistan’s constructive role in promoting regional peace, stability, dialogue, and diplomacy especially with respect to the mediatory role between the United States and Iran.
The talk was followed by a detailed QandA in which Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad engaged with participants in an interactive discussion on key regional and global developments, including the evolving security situation in the Middle East, the role of the United Nations, artificial intelligence, demographic change, and efforts to combat Islamophobia.
Responding to questions on the recent tensions involving the United States and Iran, the Permanent Representative observed that the crisis had far-
reaching global consequences extending well beyond the region. He noted its impact on global energy markets, oil and gas supplies, fertilizer availability, food security, inflation, maritime navigation, merchandise trade, and global economic growth projections.
Referring to the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, he underlined the serious implications for international energy flows and trade routes. He shared that the United Nations had examined various scenarios assessing the consequences of a prolonged crisis and emphasized that Pakistan, too, had experienced economic effects arising from regional instability.
Ambassador Asim Iftikhar stressed that beyond economic concerns, the crisis posed serious risks to regional and international peace and security. He underscored Pakistan’s constructive role in supporting de-escalation, dialogue, and diplomacy, noting Pakistan’s engagement with the United States, Iran, Gulf countries, Egypt, China, Trkiye, and other partners aimed at preventing further escalation and
creating conditions conducive to peaceful dialogue.
On questions relating to demographic change, population shifts, aging societies, and birth rates, the Permanent Representative highlighted that these issues are increasingly being discussed within the United Nations framework in the context of development, human rights, economic policy, and technological transformation. He noted that artificial intelligence is playing a growing role in supporting governments and UN agencies through data analysis, policy recommendations, and forecasting tools, and observed that the influence of AI on policymaking is expected to expand further in the years ahead.
Addressing the relationship between artificial intelligence and human rights, Ambassador Ahmad emphasized that AI is becoming increasingly significant in governmental and institutional decision-making processes. He noted that the growing use of AI would inevitably raise important human rights considerations, making the subject an increasingly prominent area of discu
ssion within the United Nations system.
Responding to questions on Islamophobia, the Pakistan Permanent Representative explained that the phenomenon refers to discrimination, marginalization, or victimization of Muslims based on their faith. He stressed that freedom of religion and belief is a fundamental human right and emphasized the importance of fostering respect, inclusion, and interfaith harmony. He noted that Pakistan, together with like-minded countries, played a leading role at the United Nations in advancing efforts to combat Islamophobia, including support for the establishment of a UN Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia tasked with developing recommendations and action-oriented initiatives for member states.
On Pakistan’s role in supporting dialogue amid regional tensions, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad observed that Pakistan’s balanced, principled, and objective approach had enabled it to maintain trust and engagement with all relevant stakeholders. He noted that Pakistan’s close relations wit
h the United States, Iran, Gulf countries, and major international powers, together with its current membership of the Security Council, positioned it well to facilitate dialogue and contribute constructively to diplomatic efforts aimed at regional peace and stability.
Discussing the evolving security environment in the Middle East and Gulf region, the Permanent Representative noted that recent developments may lead to renewed thinking regarding regional security arrangements and strategic alignments. He emphasized that future security frameworks should remain grounded in international law, the principles of the UN Charter, collective security, mutual respect for sovereignty, and equal security for all states.
Ambassador Asim further underlined Pakistan’s deep interest in peace and stability in the Gulf region, noting the country’s longstanding economic, energy, security, and people-to-people ties with Gulf states, including the presence of millions of Pakistanis living and working there.
The interaction c
oncluded with appreciation from participants for the Pakistan Mission’s hospitality and engagement. Participants thanked the Mission for facilitating a meaningful exchange on contemporary global challenges and acknowledged Pakistan’s active role in diplomacy, mediation, and peacebuilding efforts at the United Nations.
Earlier, Counsellor Saima Saleem and Col. Umar Shafique, Military and Police Advisor at the Pakistan Mission, gave detailed presentations to the participants about the work of the Pakistan Mission across different UN pillars as well as contribution to UN peacekeeping respectively.
The delegation consisted of 33 American participants as well as two from Pakistan, and one each from Turkiye, Sri Lanka, Moldova, Guatemala and Ecuador.