Pakistan welcomes P-5 statement on preventing nuclear war

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has welcomed the joint statement by the P-5 members of the UN Security Council on preventing nuclear war and avoiding arms race as a positive development.

“This understanding among the permanent members of the UN Security Council can pave the way for concrete measures for strategic stability at the global and regional levels,” the Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement.

He said as a responsible nuclear weapons state, Pakistan supported the objectives of global and non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, in line with the stipulations of the First Special Session on Disarmament of the UN General Assembly (SSOD-I) – with equal and undiminished security being the defining consideration.

The spokesperson said the P-5 statement rightly acknowledged the imperative of creating a conducive security environment for meaningful progress on nuclear disarmament.

This will include addressing the underlying security concerns of states, pacific settlement of outstanding disputes, and cessation of destabilizing arms buildups that accentuated asymmetries, he added.

In the context of South Asia, the spokesperson said, Pakistan’s proposal for a Strategic Restraint Regime, encompassing nuclear and missile restraint, conventional balance and settlement of disputes, could contribute significantly towards maintaining strategic stability and avoiding military conflict.

This will also entail eschewing misplaced notions of space for war in a nuclearized environment, he added.
“Pakistan fully agrees with the need for effective measures by all nuclear powers to guard against any unauthorized or unintended use of nuclear weapons,” the spokesperson reiterated.

Statement on Nuclear War

Earlier this month, the world’s leading nations – China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States – issued a rare joint statement pledging to prevent nuclear war and avoid arms races.

The leaders of the five nuclear-weapon states, also the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, affirmed their commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) obligation.

“None of our nuclear weapons are targeted at each other or at any other State,” the leaders reaffirmed in the statement. “A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.”

The countries said they would continue seeking bilateral and multilateral diplomatic approaches to avoid military confrontations, strengthen stability and predictability, increase mutual understanding and confidence, and prevent an arms race that would benefit none and endanger all.

The statement said they would pursue constructive dialogue with mutual respect and acknowledgment of each other’s security interests and concerns. 

The five countries also voiced their intention to maintain and further strengthen their national measures to prevent unauthorized or unintended use of nuclear weapons.

Nuclear weapons should serve defensive purposes, the leaders said, adding that they would work with all states to create a security environment more conducive to progress on disarmament with the ultimate goal of a world without nuclear weapons with undiminished security for all.