Iftikhar Ali ISLAMABAD, Sep 30 (APP):Amid crumbling international stability, Pakistan has called for a dual approach: advancing nuclear disarmament while simultaneously securing comprehensive global and regional peace. "The credibility of the international system depends not on new promises, but on enforcing existing obligations and deterring reckless behaviour," Syed Atif Raza, a counsellor in the Pakistan Mission to the United Nations, told a UN General Assembly meeting commemorating the International Day …
Pakistan urges dual strategy: total nuclear disarmament coupled with global peace
Iftikhar Ali
ISLAMABAD, Sep 30 (APP):Amid crumbling international stability, Pakistan has called for a dual approach: advancing nuclear disarmament while simultaneously securing comprehensive global and regional peace.
“The credibility of the international system depends not on new promises, but on enforcing existing obligations and deterring reckless behaviour,” Syed Atif Raza, a counsellor in the Pakistan Mission to the United Nations, told a UN General Assembly meeting commemorating the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
Observed annually, this day allows the international community to reaffirm its commitment to global nuclear disarmament, raise public awareness about the catastrophic threats of nuclear weapons, and mobilize efforts toward their total elimination.
Most speakers in Tuesday’s day-long session warned of mounting nuclear risks, from tensions in the Middle East and emerging technologies to the enduring consequences of nuclear testing.
In his remarks, Atif Raza, the Pakistani delegate, cited a “deeply troubling international security backdrop” with intensifying great Power rivalries, while “longstanding disputes remain unresolved”.
International norms are applied selectively while nuclear-armed States pursue “hegemonic designs”, he said.
“Our own region”, Atif Raza added, has demonstrated how “domestic compulsions and reckless bravado can drive States toward confrontation with attendant nuclear dangers”.
The Pakistani delegate called for cooperation alongside international and regional security, as “absent this, the world will need to prepare for an era of heightened nuclear dangers”.
Pakistan, he said, remains steadfast in its commitment to the goal of a nuclear-weapons-free world – achieved in a universal, verifiable and non-discriminatory manner, ensuring undiminished security for all States at the lowest possible level of armaments.
In this regard, he backed all international efforts to promote fair and equitable solutions to global disarmament and non-proliferation challenges.
“Nuclear disarmament will remain a distant prospect if States continue to shirk disarmament responsibilities while pursuing unremitting power and seek domination,” the Pakistani delegate said.
In his keynote address, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the US and Russia to negotiate a successor framework to the New START Treaty, the
last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the two superpowers, warning that growing nuclear arsenals and weakening safeguards are increasing risks to global security.
“The United States and the Russian Federation must negotiate a successor framework to New START,” he emphasized.
The New START Treaty expired earlier this year, leaving, for the first time in more than half a century, no binding limits on strategic nuclear arsenals, according to Guterres.
“This undermines not only the security of those who possess nuclear weapons, but the entire international community,” the UN chief said.
The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) was signed on April 8, 2010, in Prague by the United States and Russia and entered into force on Feb. 5, 2011. It replaced the 1991 START I treaty, which expired in December 2009, and superseded the 2002 Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT), which terminated when New START entered into force, according to the US-based Arms Control Association.
Guterres warned that nuclear arsenals are being expanded and modernized while technological advances are increasing the risks of mistakes and miscalculations.
“Nuclear arsenals are being expanded and modernized. The rattling of nuclear sabers is growing louder. Advances in technology are increasing the odds of mistake and miscalculation,” he said.
He also pointed to the failure to reach a substantive consensus of the 11th Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the UN Disarmament Commission’s inability to produce substantive recommendations during its latest three-year cycle.
“These are not simply diplomatic disappointments — they are warning signs. And the lights are flashing red,” Guterres said.
He said nuclear disarmament is “a binding legal obligation” under the Non-Proliferation Treaty and urged all nuclear-weapon states to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in their security policies through confidence-building measures that ensure transparency.
UN General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman said the global inventory stood at more than 12,000 nuclear warheads as of January 2026.
He said between 2,100 and 2,200 warheads are kept in a state of high operational alert on ballistic missiles capable of being launched at very short notice.
“For the first time since the end of the Cold War, the global stockpile is expected to grow again, as new and more modern warheads enter arsenals faster than retired ones are dismantled,” Rahman said.
He said global military expenditure reached nearly $3 trillion in 2025, marking the 11th consecutive annual increase.
“As long as nuclear weapons exist, the danger of their use by design, by accident, or by miscalculation, will remain,” Rahman said.
He described the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as “the cornerstone” of global efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and advance nuclear disarmament.
“Let us eliminate the weapons, and let us restore trust by building a world free from nuclear weapons,” he said.
