Pakistan not bound by treaty for prohibition of nuclear weapons, states Foreign Office

Pakistan stresses that this Treaty neither forms a part of, nor contributes to the development of customary international law in any manner, said Foreign office in a statement.

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which was adopted in July 2017, was negotiated outside the established UN disarmament negotiating forums. None of the nuclear armed states, including Pakistan, took part in the negotiations of the Treaty which failed to take on board the legitimate interests of all the stakeholders. Many non-nuclear armed states have also refrained from becoming Parties to the Treaty.

The United Nations General Assembly, at its first special session devoted to nuclear disarmament in 1978, had agreed by consensus that in the adoption of disarmament measures, the right of each State to security should be kept in mind, and at each stage of the disarmament process the objective would be undiminished security for all States at the lowest possible level of armaments and military forces.