Political, military tensions and nuclear dangers growing
Noting that the global arms control order, particularly in the nuclear realm, presents a “precarious picture”, Pakistan has called for rebuilding a more enduring and equitable international security architecture, as the build-up of strategic arms escalates.
“Nuclear disarmament obligations remain largely unfulfilled as evidenced by the constant shifting of goalposts towards additional non-proliferation measures,” Ambassador Khalil Hashmi told the United Nations General Assembly’s First Committee, which deals with disarmament and international security matters.
The integrity of long-standing rules continues to be eroded by carving out exceptions and pursuit of discriminatory policies, said Ambassador Hashmi, who is Pakistan’s permanent representative to UN offices in Geneva.
“The build-up of arms in the strategic realm is on the rise,” he said at UN Headquarters in New York, adding, “Military capabilities are assuming a force multi plier character due to growing weaponization and integration across nuclear, outer space, cyber, conventional and AI (Artificial Intelligence) domains.”
Nuclear dangers were increasing and the prospects of a nuclear war were “back within the realm of possibility”, he further said. A handful of states seemed determined to perpetuate the status quo to their continued strategic advantage, he added. Consequently, the Pakistani envoy said that political and military tensions, strategic asymmetries and nuclear dangers are growing.
“Many of these troubling trends are manifest in South Asia where the largest state continues to be a net beneficiary of nuclear exceptionalism and discrimination in the application of international norms and legality,” Ambassador Hashmi said in an obvious reference to India’s arms build-up. “It (India) remains a recipient of generous supplies of conventional and non-conventional weaponry, technology and platforms,” he added.—APP
