ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani diplomat has cautioned the international community against politicisation of Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), saying, it could have serious implications for future disarmament efforts.

Ali Sattar, Director (Disarmament) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while speaking at a webinar, hosted by Center for International Strategic Studies (CISS) on “Chemical Weapons Convention: Challenges, Approaches and Implementation”, said that politicisation of CWC would undermine the credibility of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapon (OPCW) – the implementing body of the Convention, the think-tank said in a media statement on Friday. Sattar discussed the cases of alleged use of Chemical Weapons in Syria, Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny and the addition of Central Nervous System Acting Agents to the Schedule 1 of CWC as instances of politicisation of the Convention.

He warned that compromising the credibility of CWC, which was seen as an ideal model for future disarmament treaties for being universal, would undermine future control initiatives.

Dr Zafar Ali, director general Strategic Export Control Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, dilated on Pakistan’s exports control legal framework covering the CWC.

Speaking about the challenges, he said the biggest issue was about striking a balance between the responsible use of chemistry and security; and preserving and strengthening the moral and public backing against chemical weapons and the support for the Convention.

While referring to the Syrian instance, he warned about the possibility of use of chemical weapons by the non-state actors and in that case the issue of attribution of responsibility.

He further pointed out that certain provisions of CWC had to be incorporated into domestic legislation by the countries that had ratified the Convention, but the absence of a deadline in this regard resulted in slow progress on this count. Ambassador (retd) Ali Sarwar Naqvi, Executive Director CISS, said that the CWC was a significant international agreement and its breakdown could potentially have serious repercussions for the global security.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021