Pakistan assumes presidency of UN Conference on Disarmament

In a major achievement on the diplomatic front, Pakistan has assumed the presidency of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament (CD) in Geneva today.

On Pakistan’s behalf, Additional Secretary (Arms Control and Disarmament) Tahir Hussain Andrabi is presiding over the meetings of the conference.

Pakistan holds the final presidency of the conference’s 2026 session and will therefore conclude its proceedings for the year, read a statement issued by the FO.

During its presidency, Pakistan will steer negotiations on the annual report of the conference and the corresponding resolution in the First Committee of the UN General Assembly.

Today, Ambassador Andrabi chaired a meeting of the previous presidents of the conference for the 2026 session and held consultations with representatives of the regional groups.

The UN Conference on Disarmament is the world’s single multilateral forum for negotiating disarmament and arms control treaties.

Based at the UN office in Geneva, it brings together 65 member states, including all states possessing nuclear weapons.

The agenda of the conference includes key issues such as the cessation of the nuclear arms race, the prevention of nuclear war, and the prevention of the weaponisation of outer space, among other matters.

The conference and its predecessor bodies have negotiated some of the most consequential instruments of the international security architecture, including the Biological Weapons Convention, the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

Pakistan’s assumption of the conference’s presidency at this critical juncture reaffirms the trust placed by the international community in Pakistan’s diplomatic leadership and its constructive role in multilateral arms control and disarmament diplomacy, read the statement.

It places Pakistan at the centre of the global discourse on arms control, disarmament, and international peace and security.