'Generous' arms supply to India disturbing delicate balance of power in South Asia

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has drawn global attention to the instability and disturbance in the delicate balance of power in the tension-ridden South Asian region owing to the "generous" supply of conventional weapons to a single state, a reference to India in a debate at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). 

"The policy of double standards towards South Asia, based on narrow strategic, political and commercial considerations, must be eschewed," Ambassador Muhammad Usman Iqbal Jadoon, the deputy permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, told the UN Security Council on Friday.

He was speaking in a debate on "addressing the threat posed by diversion, illicit trafficking and misuse of small arms and light weapons and their ammunition to peace and security", in which over 60 countries took part.

During the day-long debate, the speakers highlighted the threats posed by those weapons to global and regional security, as well as the nexus between firearms, terrorism, and organised crime.

They sounded alarm about their uncontrolled spread and easy availability, which, they said, undermine human security and impact a range of areas including development and fulfillment of basic human rights.

In his remarks, Ambassador Jadoon regretted that the goal of limiting and gradually reducing conventional weapons had not been realised.

"Instead, we find ourselves amidst a persistent increase in global military expenditures.

"Many destabilising developments are evident in South Asia where one State's military spending vastly outnumbers that of all others," the Pakistani envoy told the 15-member Council.

"The generous supply of conventional weaponry to this state, together with its strategic capabilities, is fueling instability, jeopardising the delicate regional balance, hindering the resolution of longstanding disputes, reinforcing its sense of impunity and hegemonic designs, and impeding the realisation of durable peace and sustainable development in the region."

"This conventional imbalance can also lead to an outbreak of conflict between nuclear-armed states due to the inherent danger of escalation", the Pakistani envoy added.

Pakistan, he said, was committed to the establishment of a strategic restraint regime in South Asia, which includes an element of conventional force balance.

"Pakistan neither wants nor is engaged in an arms race in the region," Ambassador Jadoon said.

Pakistan, he added, was of firm view that peace and stability in South Asia can only be achieved through the resolution of disputes in accordance with Security Council resolutions and the maintenance of a balance of conventional and strategic military forces.

The Pakistani envoy also called for a stronger commitment from the international community to support developing countries in eliminating the scourge of illicit weapons proliferation.

Recalling a recent attack on Pakistan's security forces' post by terrorist group Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan, he expressed concern about the group's possession of modern and sophisticated arms, calling for an investigation into how these weapons were acquired.

"While we successfully neutralised all of those involved, the possession of sophisticated weaponry by these terrorists, none of which they have the capability to manufacture, indicates a bigger problem today.

"It is the responsibility of all States, this Council and the United Nations to take measures to prevent illicit trade, transfer and diversion of these arms,” Ambassador Jadoon added.

Urging to expand the scope of arms control to cover conventional weapons, he pointed to the accumulation of conventional capabilities in cyber and outer space, which creates dangerous imbalances and can trigger conflicts.

Opening the debate, UN's High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu, noted that the UNSC began its biennial consideration of small arms in 2007 and has since recognised that their illicit transfer, destabilising accumulation and misuse threaten international peace and security.

"Small arms and light weapons are the weapons of choice in initiating, sustaining and exacerbating conflict, armed violence, terrorism and other forms of organised crime,” she said, warning that their misuse facilitates human rights violations and gender-based violence.

In 2021 alone, 260,000 people were killed by small arms, amounting to 45% of all violent deaths — more than 700 people a day, or one every two minutes.