Pakistan oppose treaty banning production of fissile material for nukes

UNITED NATIONS: Reaffirming its opposition to a treaty banning production of fissile material used as fuel for nuclear weapons, Pakistan Tuesday said such a pact must address asymmetries in existing stockpiles and result in equal and undiminished security for all states.

"A treaty which only results in a cut-off in the future production of fissile material will be a non-starter given that it will perpetuate asymmetries and will have no added value for nuclear disarmament," Ambassador Usman Iqbal Jadoon, deputy permanent representative to the UN, told the General Assembly's First Committee, which deals with disarmament and international security matters.

Speaking in a thematic debate on nuclear weapons, he brushed aside the “self-serving mantra” of some regarding a fissile material cut-off treaty and the “messianic zeal” to insist on “cost-free proposals”, including quantitative capping of fissile material while resisting the inclusion of thousands of tons of existing stocks.

Jadoon said that this approach’s inefficacy and duplicity are laid bare when States with so-called moratoria modernize and increase their nuclear arsenals, or when they exercise double standards by cooperating with “a country in South Asia”- obviously India - which has amassed stockpiles outside safeguards.

"Therefore," he said, "a realistic approach is required which recognizes the importance of developing a consensus on a Fissile Materials Treaty that addresses asymmetries in existing stockpiles and results in equal and undiminished security for all states."

At the outset, the Pakistani envoy, noting the exceedingly precarious security landscape, said that Pakistan's nuclear weapons development remains solely guided by security and defence imperatives.

Foremost among recent negative developments is the failure of the largest nuclear armed States, which have amassed tons of fissile material and thousands of weapons, to comply with their disarmament obligations and commitments, Jadoon said. Furthermore, he said, the coexistence of nuclear weapons with new and advanced conventional arms requires a new approach that acknowledges their mutually reinforcing relationship and collective impact on States’ security, particularly in asymmetric situations.

Negotiating a legal instrument to assure non-nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons remains urgent, he said, adding that an international convention on negative security assurance will reduce nuclear risks.

The Pakistani envoy also called for the start of negotiations on a comprehensive nuclear weapons convention, without further delay.