Pakistan, Aug. 13 -- Underscoring that oceans must remain zones of peace, Pakistan has drawn UN Security Council's attention to the unchecked naval build-ups, militarization of strategic waters and pursuit of regional influence "through muscle-flexing", as the 15-member body debated maritime security on Monday.

"Attempts to dominate maritime spaces or marginalize coastal States must be rejected; they are counterproductive", Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, permanent representative of Pakistan, said in the high-level debate convened by Panama, which holds the Council's presidency for the month of August.

"In some quarters," he added, "the seas are seen not as a shared domain, but as a stage for asserting primacy."

Although the Pakistani ...