Why did India and Israel oppose the Pakistan-backed UN arms control resolution? Explained

India and Israel were the only two countries to vote against a draft resolution on conventional arms control backed by Pakistan and Belarus in the first committee of the UN General Assembly, with New Delhi arguing that security concerns cannot be limited to regional and sub-regional borders.

The draft resolution, titled General and Complete Disarmament: Conventional Arms Control at the Regional and Subregional Level, received 180 votes in favor, two against and no abstentions in the 193-member UN body.

Explaining India’s opposition, Anmol Sher Bedi, First Secretary of India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, said conventional arms control was a global issue and questioned whether it should be addressed primarily through regional and sub-regional frameworks.

“We are not fully convinced that this should be done primarily in regional and sub-regional contexts,” Bedi said as he delivered India’s explanation of the first committee vote.

Why India opposed the Pakistan-backed UN resolution

India expressed concern over a draft resolution tasking the UN Commission on Disarmament to develop principles that could serve as a framework for regional agreements on conventional arms control.

Bedi questioned the need for another round of negotiations, pointing out that the Commission had already reached consensus on three sets of guidelines and recommendations on regional disarmament and conventional arms control.

These were the Guidelines for Regional Disarmament adopted in 1993, the Guidelines for Conventional Arms Control and Disarmament in 1999, and the Practical Measures for Confidence-Building in Conventional Arms in 2017.

“We have read this request with some degree of curiosity,” Bedi said, referring to the draft of the new guidelines.

“This leads to three consensus results on the subject in the body itself, which is now being asked to start from scratch,” he added.

Questioning the reasoning behind the proposal, Bedi said: “We do not understand why a topic that has been discussed for a long time needs another round of negotiations unless the aim is to employ the UN disarmament machinery.

“These concerns, as everyone understands for familiar reasons, go beyond narrowly defined regions and sub-regions. More importantly, the idea of maintaining balance in a region or sub-region seems unrealistic,” he said.

What does the Pakistan-sponsored resolution propose?

The draft resolution argues that conventional arms control should be primarily implemented through regional and subregional arrangements, suggesting that many current threats to international peace and security arise from tensions between neighboring countries.

It calls for the conclusion of agreements aimed at strengthening regional security while maintaining the lowest possible level of armaments and military forces.

The resolution also places a special responsibility on countries with significant military capabilities to facilitate regional security arrangements.

It states that “military-significant states and states with greater military capabilities have a special responsibility” in enforcing such agreements.

India’s objections, however, centered on the premise that security issues cannot be resolved solely within regional borders, especially when military capabilities and strategic interests transcend those borders.

Why India also opposed a separate reference to South Asia

Apart from voting against the resolution as a whole, India also registered a negative vote on a specific paragraph related to proposals for conventional arms control in South Asia, according to an ANI report.

The paragraph took note of various regional initiatives, including discussions among Latin American countries and conventional arms control proposals made in relation to South Asia.

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She described these initiatives as relevant to broader efforts to promote regional stability through arms limitation.

India’s opposition to the paragraph came alongside its broader objections to the resolution’s regional approach to conventional arms control.