UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday that the Conference on Disarmament has consistently failed to deliver on its promises, warning that the threat of a nuclear war, which appeared on humanity last century, has resurfaced.
Amid geopolitical divides, arms competition, increasingly dangerous new technologies and an elevated nuclear risk, Guterres highlighted his concern in Geneva that the Conference, which was established with the primary goal of fostering cooperation for mutual disarmament, has faced significant challenges in recent times.
“Something looks wrong if a disarmament conference leads to no meaningful disarmament, year after year,” he said, adding that humanity needs the Conference on Disarmament to work successfully.
The paralysis and deadlock that have come to define it is something that is not acceptable. he added.
The shadow of the nuclear war that was over humanity in the last century has returned as some statesmen regularly declare that they are ready to start a nuclear war, an outrageous threat that the world must condemn forcefully, Guterres underlined.
Guterres was indirectly referring to policies of some nuked-owned states.
The US and Russia have already nixed their arms control treaty while France and Britain have invested billions of dollars to modernize their nuclear arsenals.
India and Pakistan also regularly test a wide range of ballistic missiles to enhance their nuclear deterrent. North Korea has enshrined its nuclear weapons policies in the constitution to signal a more determined stance to pursue a policy of self-defense with nuclear weapons.
The UN chief also called for a reform in the Conference on Disarmament which is a multilateral forum to negotiate arms control and disarmament agreements. It meets annually in three separate sessions in Geneva.