United Nations, April 8, 2025(Ghufran): Pakistan has drawn the attention of the international community to the increased security challenges associated with the proliferation of military AI technologies, particularly autonomous weapons, stating that the military use of the AI technologies risks initiating new arms races and destabilizing regional and global security environments. Making the national statement during the General Debate of the United Nations Disarmament Commission 2025, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, emphasized that it is imperative to ensure that AI does not become another area of ongoing arms race with huge implications for global peace and security.
“The scale and novelty of AI’s military implications require a multifaceted, holistic and multilateral response. We believe that the United Nations should play a central role in international response to challenges associated with AI in military domain,” he stated. Ambassador Asim said that the use of AI in the military domain presents security, operational, technical, ethical, normative, and legal challenges, particularly concerning compliance with International Humanitarian Law. Ambassador Asim advocated prioritizing the consolidation of the efforts over selective approaches and fragmentation, adding that the United Nations provides the best universal platform for these discussions to ensure legitimacy and inclusivity with equitable participation of all Member States.
Recalling the First Special Session of the General Assembly devoted to Disarmament (SSOD-I) in 1978, he stated that nuclear disarmament remains the highest priority of the UN Disarmament Commission since its inception. The Pakistan UN envoy, however, noted a clear lack of progress on nuclear disarmament. He said that on the other hand, hundreds of billions of dollars are being committed to nuclear modernization programs. He added that we are witnessing unprecedented increase in military spending in recent memory, fueling ever-increasing arms race, which is now turbocharged by technological advancements. Ambassador Asim underscored Pakistan’s deep concern on the discriminatory policies followed by certain countries in the nuclear domain. He added that resultantly “the global security environment continues to deteriorate. The relentless pursuit of power and geopolitical competition has intensified in recent years, taking us further away from this important international priority.”
He said that it is more relevant than ever before to reaffirm our commitment to the foundational goals of nuclear disarmament and shared Pakistan’s perspective to accomplish the goal:
• Reaffirm the core principle that all states should enjoy equal and undiminished security under arms control frameworks.
• Nuclear-armed states must renew efforts and demonstrate commitment to fulfilling their legal and political obligations toward disarmament.
• Non-nuclear states should be guaranteed protection from nuclear threats through a universal, unconditional, and legally binding treaty.
• Conventional arms buildups contribute to nuclear risks; balanced reductions in conventional forces are essential, particularly at regional levels.
• Address underlying motives—such as perceived threats, power imbalances, and unresolved conflicts—that compel states to pursue weapons for self-defense.
Ambassador Asim reaffirmed Pakistan’s constructive engagement with the work of the UN Disarmament Commission. At the start of the 2025 annual meeting of the UN Disarmament Commission (UNDC) on 7th April, Ambassador Usman Iqbal Jadoon, Deputy Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN in New York, handed over the chairmanship of the Commission to a representative of Paraguay. He led the UNDC for the last one year and chaired its three week long substantive session in April 2024.