Pakistan has been elected as President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations for the year 2005, which highlights Pakistan's importance as an active and key player in the international arena, an official statement said. Pakistan has assumed this honour for the fifth time - the earlier being in 1995, 1975, 1957 and 1952. The commencement of Pakistan's Presidency of the ECOSOC follows its membership of the Security Council, where it served a two-year term from January 2003 to December 2004 during which Pakistan held the Security Council Presidency twice. Besides, it is a clear recognition by the international community of the substantive contributions that Pakistan has traditionally made to the cause of international peace and security consistent with the ideals and objectives of the UN Charter, the statement said. It added that the confidence reposed by the UN membership in endorsing Pakistan's candidature for ECOSOC Presidency is also an acknowledgement of the constructive and positive role that Pakistan conventionally plays in building unity and consensus on important issues of peace and development. --SP 1126 Local Time 0826 GMT
