Pakistan on Monday made a strong case for the representation of regional organizations, such as the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Arab league, in an enlarged UN Security Council as talks continued on ways to reform the 15-member body. “In line with the new realities, it is important to increase interaction with and to embed the role of the regional organizations in a Security Council of the future,” Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon told a closed-door session of the General Assembly on expanding the most powerful U.N. body aimed at making it more representative and more effective. Full-scale negotiations to restructure the council began in the General Assembly in February last year on five key areas—the categories of membership, the question of veto, regional representation, size of an enlarged Security Council, and working methods of the council and its relationship with the 192-member assembly, according to a report of the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP). Speaking on regional representation, the Pakistan ambassador backed the African Union's representation in view of the group's contribution to peace and security in the continent. Similarly, ambassador Haroon said many major issues on the council's agenda relate to the Islamic world. “The OIC and the Arab League thus have vital interests in the reform, and have clear demands for representation in an enlarged Council,” he said.
