The speakers at a seminar on Tuesday stressed upon the need for mutual and sincere cooperation for the prohibition of chemical weapons in the emerging international security threats.
The Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad (ISSI) organised the seminar titled “Multilateral Cooperation for Security: The Example of Chemical Weapons Conventions (CWC)”, with the collaboration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Quaid-e-Azam University Department of International Relations, Institute of Strategic Studies, Research & Analysis (ISSRA), National Defense University (NDU) and the South Asian Strategic Stability Institute (SASSI).
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPWC) Director General Dr Ahmet Uzumcu acknowledged Pakistan’s immensely constructive role in helping the OPCW reach its target of a world free of chemical weapons. In his address, Dr Uzumcu recognized that the value and importance of multilateralism depended greatly on sustainable progress. He said that the case of chemical weapons in particular should provide hope and encouragement, describing the objective of the CWC as encompassing peace and security as the collective responsibility of all member states and verified the destruction of over 71 percent of international weapon stockpiles.
He said that the development of national preparedness was an essential task so that the states could respond appropriately in the eventuality of an attack or accident. He said that more than 2,000 verifications had been conducted in over 80 countries. He concluded by acknowledging the support extended by Pakistan to the OPWC and projected that by 2016, only one percent of weapons will remain to be destroyed.
Disarmament and CWC National Authority Director General Dr Irfan Yousaf Shamsi emphasised that the CWC was the only international treaty in recent history that had unilaterally and un-categorically called for the complete destruction of chemical weapons. According to Dr Shami, both the CWC and the OPWC were fundamental cornerstones in international disarmament.
Arms Control and Disarmament Affiars (ACDA) Strategic Plans Division Director Air Commodore Khalid Banuri said that the CWC was the most widely recognised and groundbreaking treaty because its implementation was a robust example of effective multilateralism at work. He said that the threat to international peace and security must take top-priority and mutual cooperation was the only way to ensure the security. ISSRA Director at the NDU Brig Muhammad Khurshid said that for applying OPCW model on current and emerging international security threats, mutual and sincere cooperation was needed. He said that the CWC had managed to make tremendous progress in spite of a myriad of challenges, including the challenge that a number of state parties had signed but not yet ratified the treaty. Moreover, these states were exceptionally vulnerable to conflict due to insecure internal political situations.
Quaid-e-Azam University Department of International Relations head Dr Zafar Jaspal discussed the implications of increasing globalisation and fast-paced development, these two factors, he said, have made it extremely difficult to control and monitor the proliferation of weapons. SASSI Director Dr Maria Sultan emphasised on the role of the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) under the Chemical Weapon Convention. She commended the OPWC for having taken tremendous initiative, but added that there needed to be continued work on policy-making at the micro and macro levels in order to create a successful interface for effective negotiation.
