Pakistan welcomes Joint Statement by the P-5 on Preventing Nuclear War & Avoiding Arms Races

ISLAMABAD, Jan 13 (SABAH): Pakistan has welcomed the Joint Statement by the P-5 on Preventing Nuclear War and Avoiding Arms Races.

In response to media queries on the joint statement, Foreign Office Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said the Joint Statement by the P-5 on Preventing Nuclear War and Avoiding Arms Races is 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.

FO spokesperson said that as a responsible nuclear weapons State, Pakistan supports 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.

Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said that the P-5 statement rightly acknowledges the imperative of creating 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 build ups that accentuate asymmetries.

He said that in the context of South Asia, Pakistan’s proposal for a Strategic Restraint Regime, encompassing nuclear and missile restraint, conventional balance and settlement of disputes, can 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.

Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said that Pakistan fully agrees with the need for effective measures by all nuclear powers to guard against any unauthorized or unintended use of nuclear weapons.