ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday assumed the presidency of a key United Nations conference tasked with advancing international efforts to prevent nuclear wars, arms race and weaponization of the outer space, the Pakistani foreign ministry said.
The United Nations Conference on Disarmament (CD) is the world’s single multilateral forum for negotiating disarmament and arms control treaties. Based at the United Nations Office at Geneva, it brings together 65 member states, including all States possessing nuclear weapons.
The agenda of the conference includes key issues such as the cessation of the nuclear arms race, the prevention of nuclear war, and the prevention of the weaponization of outer space, among other matters.
Ambassador Tahir Hussain Andrabi, Pakistan’s additional secretary for arms control and disarmament) and spokesperson of the Foreign Office, was presiding over the meetings of the Conference on Disarmament.
“Pakistan holds the final Presidency of the Conference’s 2026 session and will therefore conclude its proceedings for the year,” the Pakistani foreign ministry said.
“During its Presidency, Pakistan will steer negotiations on the Annual Report of the CD and the corresponding resolution in the First Committee of the UN General Assembly.”
The CD and its predecessor bodies have negotiated some of the most consequential instruments of the international security architecture, including the Biological Weapons Convention, the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
The foreign ministry said that Pakistan’s assumption of the conference’s presidency reaffirms the trust placed by the international community in its diplomatic leadership and constructive role in multilateral arms control and disarmament diplomacy.
“Pakistan has initiated consultations in its role as President of the CD,” the ministry said. “It places Pakistan at the center of the global discourse on arms control, disarmament, and international peace and security.”
