Addressing the 60th Anniversary Summit of the United Nations here on Wednesday, he said that the Security Council should work openly, on behalf of the general membership. This can be achieved only through patient dialogue and general consensus.
"We believe that international security can best be promoted when every state sees peace as being in its best interest and realise their interest through mutual understanding," Musharraf said, adding that the world security can be promoted when supremacy of equitable principles is established over the realities of unequal power and when member states agree to utilise the United Nations to harmonise their policies and reconcile their interests.
The President said terrorism and the threat from weapons of mass destruction are some of the challenges confronting international peace and security. "We should not ignore the legacy of festering problems left by the past to address new threat". He said peace and justice must come to the peoples of Palestine as well as Jammu and Kashmir.
"We must not only be prepared to proclaim our principles; we must defend them and, above all, live up to them", he said and added that resolutions of the United Nations, especially the Security Council's decisions, must be implemented.
Musharraf said it is in this spirit that Pakistan was pursuing the composite dialogue with India. "We want the dialogue process to be result-oriented and initiate a new era of peace and co-operation in South Asia. Our nations must not remain trapped, by hate and history, in a cycle of confrontation and conflict". For this to happen, he added, it is essential to find a just solution of the Kashmir dispute, acceptable to Pakistan, India and above all to the people of Kashmir.
Pointing at the threat of terrorism, the President said today, terrorism is a primary threat to the world order. "We must fight terrorism, in all its forms, outlaw it and eliminate it. We need a comprehensive strategy for success. At the same time, we need to understand and address the motives behind terrorist acts". He said these motives behind terrorism may not justify terrorism; but they explain it. "To eliminate violence, we will need to eliminate it in the minds of potential terrorists."
The President said no religion sanctions terrorism; the motives of terrorists, however misguided, are always political. It is, therefore, needed to redress political and economic injustice, he said and added that he has suggested a strategy of Enlightened Moderation, which can ensure success in eliminating terrorism and extremism. "I trust that this will be reflected in the deliberations of the new Commission created by the UN Secretary General", Musharraf said.
He said the catastrophic consequences of a nuclear war make it imperative to prevent one from ever taking place. Both the proliferation and the perpetual possession of nuclear weapons pose an unacceptable global danger. We must evolve a new consensus to achieve disarmament and non-proliferation, the President said.
Musharraf said peace and development are interdependent. Although action for development must be largely local, it is critically dependent - in this globalised world - on the external economic environment. "Paradoxically, globalisation has increased both poverty and prosperity. The rules of international trade and finance and technology access are weighted against the poor and weak. In fact, the poor should be offered a "development handicap" to enable them to successfully integrate into a world market of unequal players."
He said respect for human rights is an integral element of both peace and development. Economic rights are as important as political and civil rights. A hungry man is not a free man, Musharraf and added that the new human rights architecture we will create - such as the proposed Human Rights Council - should advance human rights, through co-operation and mutual support.
"Genocide, ethnic cleansing and similar grave violations must be prevented. As a first step, the United Nations should be given a standing authority to send a fact-finding mission to the area where a conflict has broken out."
The President said Pakistan has contributed actively and constructively to the preparation of this Summit's important decisions. "We shall work equally to ensure that our decisions are translated into action."