Islamabad, Jul 17 (IANS): Some powerful western countries offered Pakistan to launch its candidature for the permanent membership of the UN Security Council in order to break the ongoing deadlock to reform the UN's top decision-making body, local media reported.

Pakistan, however, rejected the offer as it viewed the move as part of a tactic by certain countries to weaken the group that is opposed to the expansion of permanent seats at the UNSC.

"Some powerful countries have approached us and said Pakistan should launch its bid for the permanent seat at the UNSC," revealed a Pak Foreign Office official while requesting anonymity, The Express Tribune reported.

The official said Pakistan turned down the idea since it knew the offer was not genuine but a ploy to push Islamabad to leave the Uniting for Consensus (UfC) group that is opposed to the expansion of the UNSC.

The UfC comprising 13 countries, including Pakistan, Italy, Canada, South Korea, Argentina, Spain and Turkey, is lobbying against increasing the permanent seats at the UNSC.

The UN General Assembly recently decided to roll over the inter-governmental negotiations (IGNs) on the Security Council reform to the next General Assembly session, something that is seen as a success for countries part of the UfC.

The UfC, unlike the G4, has proposed additional non-permanent seats with longer duration in term and a possibility to get re-elected.

Brazil, India, Germany and Japan on the other hand have been pushing for expanding the current five permanent members of the UNSC to 11. They have been laying claims to become permanent members of the UNSC while proposing two other members from the African region, The Express Tribune reported.