ISLAMABAD: The United Nations General Assembly’s First Committee on Disarmament and International Security adopted four resolutions sponsored by Pakistan on Saturday, including measures on regional disarmament, confidence-building and nuclear security assurances, said an official statement.
The adoption comes against the backdrop of Pakistan’s recent conflict with India, during which the two nuclear-armed states fought a brief but intense war in May that killed around 70 people on both sides and raised global concerns about escalation in the region.
Pakistan’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations said in a statement that the committee unanimously adopted two of its resolutions entitled “Regional disarmament” and “Confidence-building measures in the regional and sub-regional contexts.”
The other two resolutions entitled “Conclusion of effective international arrangements to assure non‑nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons” and “Conventional arms control at the regional and subregional levels” were adopted with an overwhelming majority of the member states.
“Pakistan has, for decades, led initiatives in the United Nations to advance priority issues of nuclear disarmament, regional disarmament, conventional arms control and confidence-building measures,” the statement said.
“The adoption of these resolutions reaffirms the importance of the international community’s priority on ‘negative security assurances’ as well as embracing regional approaches to disarmament and arms control,” it added, referring to pledges made by nuclear-armed states not to use or threaten nuclear weapons against non-nuclear countries.
Pakistan’s call for stronger confidence-building measures comes months after its own conflict with India, which prompted one of its top military commanders, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, to warn that the recent hostilities had increased the risk of future escalation.
He said during an interview in Singapore that international mediation might prove difficult next time, highlighting the absence of crisis management mechanisms between the two countries.
Procedurally, First Committee resolutions are forwarded to the full UN General Assembly for formal adoption in the coming sessions.
