Ambassador Masood Khan of Pakistan, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council for the month of January, has said that tackling the issues of terrorism and peacekeeping will be core issues in the work of the Security Council. A ministerial-level open debate on a comprehensive approach to counter terrorism is due to convene on January 15. In announcing the meeting, Ambassador Khan said, “This will give an opportunity to Council members and the general assembly to have a holistic view of continuing threats and challenges posed by international terrorism, and the best ways of formulating and implementing a coherent and comprehensive response to this menace.”

Pakistan continues to be subject to continuing acts of terrorism. In what Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon described as “escalating terrorist violence,” Pakistan saw three buses carrying religious pilgrims attacked on December 30, 21 members of a government-backed tribal police force killed in the last week of December, and a terrorist attack against a political rally on December 22. On January 10, 2013, multiple attacks took place in the city of Quetta and in the city of Mingora in the Swat Valley, in Pakistan, which reportedly killed at least 100 and injured at least a further 200.

From the standpoint of UN peacekeeping missions, Pakistan has been actively involved for over 50 years. Pakistan contributed its first peacekeepers to the UN’s mission in the Congo back in 1961. Pakistan currently has large contingents of peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, the Côte d’Ivoire, and Liberia. “As a leading and consistent contributor of personnel to UN peacekeeping operations over the decades, Pakistan has a vital interest in the continued effectiveness and success of UN peacekeeping,” said Ambassador Khan.