Pakistan assumes presidency of UN Conference on Disarmament

Islamabad: Pakistan assumed the presidency of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament (CD) on Monday, with a commitment to impartiality in guiding the body's final work for the year, emphasizing the distinction between its chair role and its longstanding national positions on contentious arms control issues. Ambassador Tahir Hussain Andrabi, leading CD meetings in Geneva, assured Dawn that Islamabad's responsibility as the concluding chair of the 2026 session was to ensure the body's annual report faithfully and balancedly reflects the discussions, even on issues where Pakistan holds strong and clearly expressed positions.

Andrabi clarified that reflecting national positions and chair responsibilities are separate duties; the chair's task is to accurately depict the discussions. Pakistan has consistently advocated for legally binding arrangements on negative security assurances for non-nuclear weapon states and the Prevention of Arms Race in Outer Space, while opposing conventional fissile material cut-off treaties that ignore existing stockpiles.

The conference faces a challenging situation, having been unable to agree on a substantive program of work for over two decades due to the consensus requirement in decision-making. Andrabi highlighted that substantive discussions had taken place throughout the session, despite the lack of a finalized agenda. Pakistan's priorities for the year will revolve around steering negotiations on the CD's annual report and its resolution in the UN General Assembly's First Committee.

Andrabi, who has been consulting with past presidents and regional representatives, stressed that the annual report's role is to record the conference's discussions accurately and factually, not to prejudge future negotiations or reopen past disputes. The presidency will also address emerging issues like military applications of artificial intelligence and their impact on strategic stability, noting that the conference is a crucial forum to consider these matters, given its inclusion of all nuclear-armed states.

However, Andrabi emphasized that the chair will not accord special status to Pakistan's positions on these issues in the conference's formal record. The immediate test for Islamabad will be producing an impartial annual report acceptable to all 65 members while ensuring comprehensive coverage of the discussions.