Pakistan underscores 'volatile' security environment amid India's arms procurement

Pakistan's permanent representative to the United Nations Ambassador Munir Akram expressed concerns regarding India's extensive procurement of weapons and its "volatile and explosive" impact on South Asia's security environment.

Speaking during a session of the United Nations (UN) Disarmament Commission, Ambassador Akram said: "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."

Lamenting India's war-fighting doctrines such as the "Cold Start" which envisages a surprise attack on Pakistan, and a "limited war under the nuclear overhang", the envoy underscored that New Delhi has become the world’s largest arms importer, and is being supplied by its 'strategic partners' with nuclear, missiles, conventional and other destabilising weapons.

His remarks come after Pakistan's Usman Jadoon was elected Chairman of the Disarmament Commission's 2024 session. The Commission, a subsidiary of the UN General Assembly, began its three-week session on Monday to deliberate on disarmament issues.

On the issue of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), the envoy said that the decades-long dispute wherein not only the rights Kashmiris are being brutally suppressed and have but has caused the two armies deployed in close proximity coupled with induction of major destabilising weapons has severely deteriorated the regional security situation.

The situation has further been exacerbated, he added, by the induction of major destabilising weapons and war-fighting doctrines, India's sponsorship of terrorism against Pakistan and the absence of dialogue and international action.

"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," the ambassador said.

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, 20 after the adoption of this commitment, one South Asian State unilaterally conducted nuclear weapons explosions," the Pakistani envoy said, adding that Islamabad was obliged to follow suit.

"In the immediate aftermath of South Asia’s nuclearisation, 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 IIOJK.

"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," he concluded.