United Nations (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 6 Mar 2026) Pakistan He told the UN Security Council that the world’s natural resources should serve as instruments for economic development and shared prosperity, not coercion or conflict, as critical minerals now underpin technologies that underpin the digital economy and energy transition.
“The scramble for natural resources and its association with conflict and instability is not new,” Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmed, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, said in a discussion on “Energy, Critical Minerals and Security” under the agenda item of the 15-member council.
He called for a change in course, and this rise has generated new geopolitical and geoeconomic pressures, he said. “If not managed responsibly, competition for natural resources can impact supply chains, exacerbate tensions, undermine sovereignty, and contribute to instability.”
In this regard, the Pakistani envoy stressed that shared water resources are indispensable for sustaining life and achieving sustainable development and prosperity.
“We reject the use of water as a weapon to choke the lifeline of low-lying countries, which also threatens regional peace, security and stability,” Ambassador Asim Ahmed said.
He said that Pakistan itself is facing water terrorism India Which resorted to unilateral and illegal measures to suspend the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty in violation of international law and the provisions of that treaty.
“The international community must put pressure on India to return to full compliance with the Indus Waters Treaty, which remains valid and enforceable in accordance with the August 2025 arbitral tribunal ruling.”
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright chaired the meeting, as the United States holds the presidency of the Security Council for the month of March.
“When mineral wealth intersects with weak governance, entrenched poverty and external interference, the risks of instability increase,” Ambassador Asim Ahmed said, referring to the many areas affected by conflict, illicit extraction, trafficking networks and murky financial flows that have fueled armed conflict and violence, weakened state institutions and deprived populations of legitimate revenues.
He said, “The production and trade of vital minerals must respect national ownership, local priorities, and the right of developing countries to seek value addition and industrialization, with the aim of transforming them from mere exporters of raw materials into integrated centers for processing and refining.”
“Efforts to secure supplies must not turn into bloc policies, economic coercion or exclusionary arrangements, thus ensuring that supply chain diversification does not become a tool of geopolitical containment.
Fragmentation of global markets will undermine energy transition goals and collective security.
In this era of technological transformation, the Pakistani envoy said the management of energy and critical minerals must remain firmly anchored in the UN Charter and international law. If these resources are managed according to these principles, they can advance sustainable development and shared global prosperity.
“Its mismanagement or exploitation risks deepening inequality and exacerbating geopolitical tensions,” he added.
Opening the discussion, Rosemary DiCarlo, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, told the Security Council that critical minerals were now “among the key drivers of the 21st century economy,” essential for everything from smartphones to electric cars and medical technologies.
In recent years, minerals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel have gone from being of limited strategic value to resources that support technologies that support the digital economy and energy transition.
“In 2023 alone, trade in raw and semi-manufactured metals reached approximately $2.5 trillion – representing more than 10 percent of global trade,” Ms. DiCarlo explained.
She framed rising demand as both opportunity and risk, saying demand could triple by 2030 and quadruple by 2040, providing a “generational opportunity” to create jobs and diversify economies.
However, the rise in demand is also fueling geopolitical competition and exposing supply chains to instability.
She warned that mining is linked to human rights violations and environmental degradation. She stressed to the Council members that “both producing and consuming countries must adopt governance and regulatory frameworks that manage these resources responsibly for the benefit of all.”
US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, speaking in his national capacity, said, “Energy security is national security,” warning against heavy reliance on single suppliers for vital resources.
Recalling the energy crisis that Europe is experiencing in the wake of dependence on Russian oil and gas, Wright stressed that “energy is very important, very central to life, and we cannot go wrong with it.”
He added that it is in the security interests of the United States and its allies not to depend on any single country for vital minerals, highlighting efforts to keep global trade routes open and enhance economic and security cooperation.
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