Pakistan assumes presidency of UN Conference on Disarmament

Pakistan has assumed the presidency of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament (CD) in Geneva. Tahir Hussain Andrabi, Additional Secretary for Arms Control and Disarmament, is presiding over the meetings.

As the final presidency of the conference’s 2026 session, Pakistan will lead negotiations on the annual report and the corresponding resolution for the UN General Assembly’s First Committee. The presidency involves steering discussions on critical global security issues, including the cessation of the nuclear arms race, the prevention of nuclear war, and the prevention of the weaponisation of outer space.

The Conference on Disarmament serves as the primary multilateral forum for negotiating arms control treaties and includes 65 member states, including all nuclear-armed nations. Previous major agreements negotiated by the body include the Biological Weapons Convention, the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.