Nuclear dialogue

Among nuclear-armed states, Pakistan has made a bold move by declaring its commitment to nuclear disarmament – if done in the right way. Our Foreign Office has made the right kind of comments on Pakistan’s position on the recently adopted Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the United Nations (UN). The treaty is the first of its kind, declaring nuclear weapons to be illegal. However, like most UN treaties, it requires countries to voluntarily join it. For its part, Pakistan has continued to insist that any decision to disarm would be intimately tied to a decision by other nuclear-armed states, including India, to make the same choice. There is no doubt that disarmament will be a commitment that will have to be made together but it is important that the verbal commitment to it is made – at least in principle – by all sides. And then, more than an agreement to the principle, the responsibility lies with nuclear-armed states to show a genuine commitment to a nuclear-free world. The decision by all nuclear-armed countries not to participate in the conversation on the nuclear ban treaty was a move that no one has appreciated. If, as they insisted, the terms were not right, their participation could have proposed a different set of terms.

With the treaty set to open for signatures on September 20, there is a need for all nuclear-armed states to start a serious process of dialogue amongst each other on how to create a nuclear-free world. A nuclear weapons free world is not an impossible dream. The world has already seen the terrible humanitarian tragedies nuclear weapons are capable of. It should have been a lesson to all that nuclear weapons only guarantee mutual annihilation. But the temptation to be the last to take a concrete initiative is high. Pakistan’s objections to the treaty have been stated in terms of process and substance. The country has pointed to the need to convene the Conference on Disarmament based in Geneva. Pakistan could ostensibly take a more active role and petition for such a convention to be held. It is unlikely that though that Pakistan will make such a substantive effort towards disarmament anytime soon. If we do take on disarmament more seriously, it would give us a chance to pressure India and other nuclear-armed states to cede ground. The world no longer believes in the narrative that nuclear weapons make us safe. If it is committed to a nuclear-free world, Pakistan could begin by asking for a meeting between all nuclear-armed states to discuss the path forward.