Pakistan assumes presidency of UN Conference on Disarmament

Pakistan has assumed the presidency of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament, per Dawn — the world's sole permanent forum for negotiating disarmament treaties. Ambassador Tahir Hussain Andrabi, presiding from Geneva, said Pakistan will act impartially as the session's final chair while maintaining clear separation from its own positions on arms control. That distinction is crucial: the sixty-five-member body has been deadlocked for over twenty years, unable to agree on substantive work because all decisions require consensus. Pakistan has long advocated for legally binding arrangements on negative security assurances for non-nuclear states and on preventing an arms race in outer space — positions it will continue to advance outside its role as chair. Pakistan's main task now is producing an annual report that captures the conference's discussions factually and fairly, without prejudging future negotiations.

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