ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday warned that a sharp rise in global military spending, driven by emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), is accelerating a new arms race internationally with potentially grave consequences for global security.
The remarks were delivered by Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, during the General Debate of the UN Disarmament Commission’s 2025 session.
Established in 1978 following the First Special Session of the UN General Assembly devoted to disarmament, the commission was tasked with formulating proposals on nuclear disarmament and preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. However, it has made little tangible progress over the decades and has often been criticized for its inability to produce concrete results.
“We are witnessing unprecedented increase in military spending in recent memory, fueling ever-increasing arms race now turbocharged by technological advancements,” Ahmad said, according to an official statement. “The relentless pursuit of power and geopolitical competition has intensified in recent years, taking us further away from this important international priority.”
The Pakistani envoy emphasized the urgent need for effective international measures to halt the development and use of advanced weapons technologies that could further destabilize global security.
He warned that such advancements were extending the arms race into new frontiers, including outer space, cyberspace and the world’s oceans.
“Artificial intelligence is fast becoming a pervasive feature of our daily lives with profound impact on international peace and security,” Ahmad continued, adding that the military application of AI posed a range of challenges – security, operational, ethical and legal – particularly regarding compliance with international humanitarian law.
The Pakistani diplomat cautioned the unchecked spread of AI-powered autonomous weapons could spark fresh arms races and destabilize both regional and global security environments.
“It is imperative to ensure that AI does not become another area of ongoing arms race with huge implications for global peace and security,” he said, calling for a “multifaceted, holistic and multilateral response.”
Ahmad said the UN should play a central role in shaping a coordinated global approach to the challenges posed by military AI technologies, and expressed Pakistan’s readiness to cooperate with it over the issue.
Pakistan warns of surging global military spending, arms race fueled by AI
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Pakistan warns of surging global military spending, arms race fueled by AI
- Pakistan’s envoy at the UN calls for a halt to the development, use of advanced weapons technologies
- Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad urges safeguards to prevent AI from fueling a new global arms race
Police arrest 49 suspected militants in Pakistan’s Punjab in a month
- The development follows a steep rise in militancy-related deaths in Pakistan last year
- Authorities have lodged cases against the arrested suspects affiliated with banned outfits
ISLAMABAD: The counter-terrorism department (CTD) of Punjab police has arrested 49 militants in different areas of Pakistan’s most populous province in a month and foiled a major terror plan, the CTD said on Saturday.
Pakistan is currently facing an uptick in militant attacks, mainly by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, which borders Punjab.
The attacks in KP have forced authorities in Punjab to heighten security and take pre-emptive measures in view of potential spillover of militants into the country’s most populous province.
CTD officials arrested these militants in 425 intelligence-based operations and seized weapons, explosives and other prohibited materials from the arrestees, according to a CTD spokesperson.
“Forty-four cases have been registered against the arrested terrorists and further investigation is being carried out,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
The development comes a steep rise in militancy-related deaths in Pakistan in 2025. According to statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) last month, combat-related deaths in 2025 rose 73 percent to 3,387. These included 2,115 militants, 664 security forces personnel, 580 civilians and 28 members of pro-government peace committees, the think tank said.
CTD conducted 6,131 combing operations in the province and arrested 599 suspects, according to the statement. Around 570 police reports were registered against these suspects, which led to 477 recoveries.
In Nov., the Punjab government had launched the country’s “first” mobile counterterrorism unit to monitor complex security operations in real time, while in Sept. the province announced the arrest of 90 suspected militants in a three-month counter-terrorism sweep.
Pakistan has struggled to contain the surging in militancy in KP since a fragile truce between the Pakistani Taliban and Islamabad broke down in Nov. 2022. The country faces another decades-long insurgency by Baloch separatists in its southwestern Balochistan province.
Islamabad has frequently accused Afghanistan of allowing the use of its soil and India of backing militant groups for attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi deny the allegation.
