US officials expressed grave reservations over Pakistan's positions at the United Nations that were "in direct opposition to US policies," a diplomatic cable unveiled by the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks has revealed.
According to a June 2006 cable written by former US Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton- considered a hardliner, Pakistan was "one of a handful of countries...that routinely oppose the United States in multilateral debates despite strong bilateral ties to the US."
"While much of its behaviour in New York may reflect Pakistan's rivalry with India...the positions Pakistan adopts to curry favour with other member states often put it in direct opposition to US policies," wrote Bolton.
"A statistical analysis of Pakistan's voting record at the UNGA [UN General Assembly] illustrates this point. Pakistan's voting correlation with the US... has been on a downward trend since 1996 and reached a record low of 17.4 percent last year," he added.
Bolton reserved special censure in the secret cable for Munir Akram, Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the UN, saying that he "personified" Pakistan's cultivation of "a false image of constructive engagement among other delegations in New York...even while working to block key US priorities."
Critical of Pakistan's opposition to US positions on counterterrorism, Bolton stated that "Pakistan, which undoubtedly sees counterterrorism at the UN through the prism of Kashmir...has long been a leader among the OIC in opposing US CT [counter-terrorism] positions through indirect criticism of US policies."
Bolton also noted that by "arguing that attacks perpetrated by peoples living under foreign occupation are not terrorism", Pakistan has joined Egypt, Venezuela and other NAM states "in emphasizing the need to confront the 'root causes' of terrorism."
The cable, published by the Dawn, also referred to a UN session, during which a "Pakistani delegate" argued that "militaries engaging in foreign occupation often carry out 'wanton violence against innocent civilians and other non-combatants.'"
Moreover, Bolton referred to Pakistan's attempts to persuade the UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the General Assembly "to adopt positions on development, trade, and social issues at odds with the interests of the US and other like-minded nations." ANI
