The Center for International Strategic Studies (CISS) organized a Round Table with Mr. Yusuke Shindo, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Japan in Islamabad on December 19, 2018. Mr. Shindo was formerly posted at Geneva. The topic of Round Table discussion was ‘Global Security Issues relating to Arms Control and Disarmament.’
Mr. Shindo talked about the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at length. He explained the discussions on the Ban Treaty at various stages. He said that the treaty has broken the stalemate in nuclear disarmament as this treaty is the first multilateral nuclear disarmament initiative in many years. He emphasized that the treaty takes a humanitarian approach to nuclear disarmament and brings democracy in the nuclear disarmament debate, as the treaty is brought forward by the Non-Nuclear Weapons States. Usually, the disarmament debate is dictated by the Nuclear Weapons States.
He also stated that the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was about managing nuclear weapons, however, the Ban Treaty is about the banning of nuclear weapons.
Mr. Kamran Akhtar, Director General Arms Control and Disarmament Division at the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan talked about the Pakistani position on the treaty. He said that the treaty ignores the genuine security concerns of states like Pakistan, which face security threats from India. He said Pakistan is committed to nuclear disarmament in a way that promotes peace, security, and stability at the regional and global levels. The talk was followed by discussion and Q&A session.
The round-table was attended by participants from think tanks, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Strategic Plans Divisions, and academia.
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Ali Sarwar Naqvi is Executive Director at the Center for International Strategic Studies (CISS), Islamabad.
