Statement by Pakistan at the General Debate of the First Committee
Mr. Chairman,
On behalf of Pakistan delegation, I congratulate you and other members of the Bureau on your elections and assure you of our full cooperation as you steer the important work of this Committee.
2. We align ourselves with the statement delivered by Indonesia on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement.
Mr. Chairman,
3. The global security landscape represents a grim picture. This is evident in rising geopolitical tensions and great power rivalry; festering of old conflicts and emergence of new ones due to the failure to uphold the UN Charter principles.
4. New military blocs have taken shape. There is unprecedented increase in military expenditures. A growing race is underway to build, modernize, integrate and deploy new types of weapons and platforms at land, sea, outer and cyber space. In some regions, these developments are fostering asymmetries and undermining strategic stability.
5. Conventional warfighting doctrines and strategies continue to be rolled out regardless of the danger of nuclear escalation. The UN Secretary General has sounded the alarm bell that the prospects of a nuclear war are “back within the realm of possibility”.
6. The principles, norms and rules underpinning the UN charter and the arms control architecture have often been sacrificed for strategic and commercial considerations. Vital arms control agreements have been discarded. The largest nuclear powers have failed to comply with their nuclear disarmament obligations.
7. Cumulatively, these developments have led to the continued stalemate in the machinery of disarmament and the breakdown of international consensus on reducing, controlling and preventing the spread of nuclear arms.
Mr. Chairman,
8. Amidst this worrying drift, the UN Secretary General’s attempt to outline a new peace agenda is a bold and perhaps timely initiative. Let me take this opportunity to highlight some of the key principles on which the foundations of a durable and equitable international peace and security architecture must be laid:
One, universal and consistent application of the principles the UN Charter, UN Security Council resolutions, and international law, especially recommitment to the principles of the non-use of force and peaceful resolution of disputes;
Two, implementation of the assurance in the SSOD-I Final Document that “every state has an equal right to security”. Legitimate security interests of all states and peoples must be respected;
Three, faithful compliance with and fulfillment of arms control and disarmament obligations by respective states;
Four, reinvigoration of conventional arms control at regional and sub-regional levels including establishment of zones of peace under the auspices of the UN;
Five, rejection of double standards and pursuit of non-discriminatory measures in the nuclear and other realms;
Six, enacting guardrails and developing normative framework on the use of new technologies for military purposes, while ensuring their non- discriminatory access for peaceful uses. Pakistan has presented various proposals in this area, which we will highlight at this Committee;
Seven, strengthening cooperative and inclusive multilateralism in pursuit of collective security and to prioritize the UN machinery over strategic alliances based on interests of a few.
Mr. Chairman,
9. Many of the negative security related developments are evident in South Asia which pose a grave threat to peace and security in the region and beyond. The largest state in the region continues its repression of the right to self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, defying a dozen UN Security Council resolutions.
10. Strategic stability is also threatened by this state as it continues to receive abundant supply of conventional and non-conventional weaponry, and now new sensitive technologies and platforms. These generous supplies and its designation as a ‘net security provider’ have emboldened this State to impose its hegemony and the well-advertised ambition to emerge as a dominant power in South Asia, the Indian Ocean and beyond.
11. Meanwhile, this state continues to pursue belligerent policies, aggressive war-fighting doctrines, and heightened readiness postures and deployments, fraught with demonstrated risks of accidental launches.
12. Pakistan cannot remain oblivious to this evolving security dynamics in our immediate neighbourhood and the clear and present dangers to our security due to these policies, actions and developments. Pakistan will maintain its capability of minimum credible deterrence against all forms of aggression.
13. Despite continuing provocations and threats, Pakistan remains committed to the goal of a peaceful and stable South Asia. Over the past quarter century, Pakistan proposed a number of initiatives to promote peace and security and prevent the emergence of nuclear weapons in South Asia.
14. Following the South Asia nuclear tests, Pakistan proposed the establishment of a Strategic Restraint Regime (SRR) in the region, premised on three interlocking and mutually reinforcing elements of conflict resolution, nuclear and missile restraint and conventional arms balance. The proposal remains on the table. Pakistan’s security policy continues to be defined by restraint and responsibility and avoidance of a mutually debilitating arms race in our region.
15. Pakistan desires, and is determined to pursue, peace, development and strategic stability in South Asia based on sovereign equality and mutual respect. Such a peace can be built:
First, through the resumption of negotiations to resolve the outstanding disputes between Pakistan and India, especially the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people; and
Second, by the maintenance of a balance of conventional and strategic military capabilities and deployments, including reciprocal measures for nuclear, missile and military restraints between the two countries.
Mr. Chairman,
16. Pakistan has and continues to advocate for the revival of international consensus on arms control and disarmament measures to promote universal and equal security for all states, through the promotion of regional and global arms control and disarmament, including nuclear disarmament, based on the SSODI Declaration and Programme of Action, and demonstrable adherence to international law.
17. In this endeavour, Pakistan will continue to support the commencement, without further delay, of negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament on a comprehensive Nuclear Weapons Convention.
18. Pakistan also supports the immediate start of negotiations in the CD on a legally binding Negative Security Assurances (NSAs) and a Treaty on Prohibition of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space (PPWT). We have presented a detailed working paper early this year on legally binding instrument on NSA at the Conference on Disarmament.
19. The proposal for a treaty banning only the production of fissile materials remains flawed in its conception and intended impact. Such a treaty seeks to perpetuate existing asymmetries by excluding from its scope several metric tonnes of existing fissile material stocks that can produce thousands of new nuclear weapons. Pakistan has therefore made a concrete proposal in the CD on a Fissile Materials Treaty that genuinely promotes the twin objectives of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation equitably.
20. Continued insistence on flawed and failed approaches of the past has not and will not work. We reaffirm the need for revisiting such approaches by adhering faithfully to the universally agreed principles that adoption of disarmament measures should take place in an equitable and balanced manner as to ensure the right of each state to security and to ensure that no individual State or group of States obtain advantages over others at any stage.
21. Pakistan will, once again, table its four resolutions in this Committee to address regional and conventional arms control and disarmament and the provision of negative security assurances to non-nuclear weapon States.
I thank you.