Pakistan raises alarm over India's arms race, hostile policies

New York: Pakistan told the UN Disarmament Commission that India’s large-scale arms acquisitions plus its set of aggressive military policies turned the security environment in South Asia “volatile and explosive”, and urged the world community to address this situation.

“Needless to say, these developments impinge on Pakistan’s security,” Ambassador Munir Akram, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, said as the the Commission, a subsidiary of the UN General Assembly, began its three-week session on Monday that is scheduled to deliberate on disarmament issues.

At the outset, he congratulated Ambassador Usman Jadoon, his deputy, on his election as Chairman of the Disarmament Commission’s 2024 session. “Pakistan is honoured and proud at your election as Chair of this important Commission.”

“The security environment in South Asia has deteriorated sharply in recent years, as the region’s largest State has embarked on a programme of massive armament,” the Pakistani envoy said, without naming India. “It (India) is now the world’s largest arms importer, and is being supplied by its ‘strategic partners’ with nuclear, missiles, conventional and other destabilizing weapons,” he said, noting It has adopted war-fighting doctrines – such as ‘Cold Start’, envisaging a surprise attack on Pakistan, and a ‘limited war under the nuclear overhang’.”

“With a long-standing dispute — where the right of the people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir are being brutally suppressed; with two major armies deployed in close proximity; with the induction of major destabilizing weapons and war fighting doctrines; with the sponsorship of terrorism against Pakistan; and with the absence of dialogue or international action — the security environment in South Asia is volatile and explosive,” Ambassador Akram said “Unless determined steps are taken by the international community to address this situation, it could emerge as the proximate cause of a regional and global catastrophe,” he added.

Pakistan, he pointed out has sought to achieve the objective of undiminished security at the lowest possible level of armaments, noting it had proposed the creation of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in South Asia. “Unfortunately, twenty years after the adoption of this commitment, one South Asian State unilaterally conducted nuclear weapons explosions,” the Pakistani envoy said, adding that Pakistan was obliged to follow suit.

“In the immediate aftermath of South Asia’s nuclearization, Pakistan offered to conclude a ‘Strategic Restraint Regime,’ envisaging reciprocal limitations on nuclear, missile and conventional capabilities, together with efforts to resolve outstanding disputes, especially the festering dispute over Jammu and Kashmir.

 “This proposal remains on the table. “In the dismal and dangerous global security environment, the Disarmament Commission, with its universal membership and democratic structure, can make a singular contribution to promoting global and regional security.