Pakistan has called for achieving the goals of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation in a balanced and non-discriminatory manner to promote peace and security in the world. "What we need is political will, especially by the major powers," to accomplish the objectives, Pakistan UN Ambassador Masood Khan told the UN Disarmament Commission, which opened its annual three-week session on Monday.
For years, he added, Pakistan had called for evolving a new consensus on disarmament and non-proliferation, starting from a basic premise: the recognition of the right to equal security for all states, in the non-conventional and conventional fields, as well as at regional and global levels.
Ambassador Masood Khan said that states' motives for acquiring weapons must also be addressed, including perceived threats from superior conventional or non-conventional forces. Nuclear-weapon states must recommit to achieving disarmament within a reasonable timeframe, while non-nuclear-armed states should have assurances they would not be threatened with the use of nuclear or even conventional weapons.
A universal and non-discriminatory agreement for addressing the proliferation of anti-ballistic missile systems must evolve, while an agreed approach was also needed for promoting the peaceful uses of nuclear energy under appropriate international safeguards, the Pakistani envoy said. Any new inspection regime must be applied equitably.
Masood Khan underlined the need to address the "excessive" production and sales of conventional weapons, as well as their reduction. A balanced reduction of armed forces and conventional armaments was needed. Pakistan was pursuing a "strategic restraint" regime in South Asia, comprising nuclear restraint, conventional balance and conflict resolution, with a focus on confidence-building measures, he told delegates from around the world.
It also was promoting conventional stability and restraint, and would continue advocating for reductions in conventional forces at the United Nations. Masood Khan urged the international community to give Pakistan access to nuclear technology for peaceful uses on a non-discriminatory basis to help meet the country's growing energy needs.
"Disarmament and non-proliferation are mutually reinforcing processes," he said. A single-minded focus on the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT) was not a panacea. A lop-sided pursuit of FMCT from the non-proliferation prism while ignoring its disarmament imperatives, such as existing stocks, and shelving the equally, if not more, important issues, such as nuclear disarmament, negative security assurances and prevention of arms race in outer space, had not worked before, he said, adding, "Neither will it work in the future".