International Security Environment Deteriorated Markedly: President Conference on Disarmament
ISLAMABAD, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 20th Aug, 2026) Ambassador Tahir Hussain Andrabi, Additional Secretary (Arms Control and Disarmament) and Spokesperson of Foreign Office, presided over the 1794th Plenary Meeting of the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva — the first plenary under Pakistan’s Presidency of the 2026 session.
In his inaugural statement as President, he noted that the international security environment has deteriorated markedly in recent years due to:
- Armed conflicts across several regions
- Erosion or lapse of key arms control instruments
- Modernization and expansion of arsenals
- Rapid advance of new technologies like outer space, cyber domain, artificial intelligence, outpacing the frameworks meant to govern them.
He emphasized that the world has become more dangerous, making the need for this conference even more pressing.
Cautioning against blaming the Conference’s impasse on its machinery, the CD President reminded participants that this same body—operating under similar rules—had previously negotiated landmark instruments of international security. He drew a parallel: "When the passengers on a bus cannot agree on a destination, the fault does not lie with the bus."
He underscored that the Conference remains an invaluable institution, one that brings together all militarily significant states based on agreed rules and with decades of accumulated expertise behind it. As Pakistan’s central responsibility for the 2026 session, he pledged to ensure a timely adoption by consensus of the Conference’s Annual Report to the UN General Assembly. He assured delegations that the presidency’s doors remain open to all.
