The United Nations General Assembly Wednesday adopted Pakistan’s four annual disarmament-related resolutions that are aimed at strengthening regional as well as international peace and security, reflecting Islamabad’s commitment to achieve those goals.
The resolutions were recommended by the 193-member Assembly’s First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) where the texts were adopted by overwhelming support of its membership. Of these, three resolutions deal with regional disarmament, conventional arms control at regional and sub-regional levels as well as confidence building measures (CBMs) in the regional and sub-regional context.
The fourth Pakistani resolution sought international security assurances for non-nuclear-weapon states. Titled, “Conclusion of effective international arrangements to assure non-nuclear-weapon states against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons”, the resolution was adopted by a vote of 120 in favour to none against, with 60 abstentions. By its terms, the Assembly, convinced that nuclear disarmament and the complete elimination of nuclear weapons are essential to remove the danger of nuclear war, reaffirmed the urgent need to reach an agreement to assure non-nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons and appealed to states, particularly nuclear-weapons States, to work towards a legally binding instrument. The resolution, entitled “Conventional arms control at the regional and sub-regional levels”, was adopted by a thumping majority of 182 votes in favour. India was the only country which voted against. There was one abstention. The text draws attention to the conventional military danger in the regional context — obviously South Asia — and propose measure to address the associated risks.
Resolutions on “Regional Disarmament” and “CBMs in the regional and sub-regional context” were adopted by consensus. For several years, it was pointed out, Pakistan has led initiatives at the UN to promote the goals of regional disarmament, conventional arms control, and CBMs. The resolutions recognize the significance of and complementarity between regional and global approaches to arms control, disarmament, and confidence building to promote international peace, security, and stability, encouraging efforts aimed at promoting CBMs at the regional and sub-regional levels to ease regional tensions. The resolution on conventional arms control at regional and sub-regional levels acknowledges that the preservation of a balance in States’ defence capabilities strengthens peace and stability.
