Reaffirming that international peace and security depended on stability at the regional levels, Pakistan has called for the preservation of balance in the defence capabilities of states at the lowest level of armaments and military forces. Speaking at a key U.N. panel, Pakistani delegate Atif Raza also underscored the special responsibility of militarily significant states in promoting regional security. “Several regions have reaped the benefits of applying these principles: Conventional arms control, risk reduction, and confidence-building measures (CBMs) have laid the groundwork for peace in many regions of the world,” Raza, a Counsellor at the Pakistan Mission to the UN, told the General Assembly’s First Committee, which deals with disarmament and international security issues. “However, when a state spurs these regional approaches because it perceives its global ambitions as incompatible, it obstructs the path to peace,” he said in the debate on ‘Regional Disarmament and Security’. “Such denial isn’t just a regional issue; it destabilizes the entire global order,” the Pakistani delegate added. Confidence-building measures could lead to favourable measures for the peaceful settlement of existing disputes, he said, adding they should not become an end in themselves. “They (CBMs) also cannot act as a substitute nor a precondition for steps towards peaceful settlement of disputes,” Raza said. “Without progress towards eliminating underlying disputes and causes of mistrust between states, the utility of CBMs diminishes.” A stable balance of conventional forces and weapons, he said, was necessary to ensure strategic stability, particularly in regions mired in tensions. “Preventing the possibility of military attack launched by surprise and to avoid aggression remain important goals of conventional arms control”. In short, he added, regional security is global security, and denying one imperils the other. At the outset, the Pakistani delegate said the complementarity between global and regional approaches is grounded in a simple reality – most threats to peace emerge from within regions or subregions where neighbouring States are the first to feel the heat of a conflict. Regional disarmament must address the accumulation of conventional weapons that exceed legitimate self-defence needs. When countries amass more than necessary, they destabilize the entire region. For several years, he said, Pakistan has led initiatives at the United Nations to promote the goals of regional disarmament, conventional arms control, and CBMs. In this regard, he told the committee that the Pakistan delegation will present three resolutions on regional disarmament; confidence-building measures in the regional and sub-regional context; and conventional arms control at regional and sub-regional levels. “These draft resolutions recognize the significance of and complementarity between regional and global approaches to arms control, disarmament and confidence building to promote international peace, security and stability,” Raza said, as he called for their adoption.
UN must address regional security: Pakistan
Published on: November 1, 2024 1:09 AM