United Nations (TDI): Pakistan has expressed its concern over the sustained supply of advanced weapons and sensitive technologies to one state in South Asia saying it is fueling instability in the tension-ridden region.
“At a time when the world is besieged by conflicts, when cooperation is most needed to bolster peace-building efforts, some states continue to prioritize financing wars over pursuing peaceful solutions,” Pakistani delegate Gul Qaiser told the General Assembly’s Disarmament and International Security Committee the other day.
Supply to “one state” and “tension” were obvious reference to India and Pak-India, the two nuclear armed South Asian nations that represent tension-ridden region.
The delegate said that efforts such as the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) have achieved only limited success in regulating conventional weapons, according to APP.
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“Despite its emphasis on assessing arms transfers based on humanitarian, legal, and security considerations, the reality is stark: advanced weaponry continues to flood volatile regions, often exacerbating disputes and even contributing to atrocities, including genocides,” Qaiser, a Counsellor in Pakistan’s Mission to the UN, said.
“In South Asia, one State is being supplied with advanced weapons and sensitive technologies leading to destabilizing accumulations despite the fact that it adopts hostile policies towards its neighbours and remains in defiance of multiple UNSC (UN Security Council) resolutions,” the Pakistani delegate futher.
He highlighted Pakistan’s committed to the establishment of a strategic restraint regime in South Asia, which includes an element of conventional force balance, saying, “Pakistan neither wants, nor is engaged in an arms race in the region.”
He also called for addressing the causes that propel the trade in arms, instead of an exclusive focus on managing its effects.
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The success of Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), the Pakistani delegate said, lies in the delicate balance it seeks to maintain between humanitarian considerations and the legitimate security interests of States.
Pakistan, he said, shares the concerns about the possibility of acquisition and use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) by non-state actors and terrorists.
