Pakistan Assumes Presidency of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament

Pakistan assumes the Presidency of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament (CD) in Geneva today. On Pakistan’s behalf, Ambassador Tahir Hussain Andrabi, Additional Secretary (Arms Control and Disarmament) and Spokesperson, is presiding over the meetings of the CD.

Pakistan holds the final Presidency of the Conference’s 2026 session and will therefore conclude its proceedings for the year. During its Presidency, Pakistan will steer negotiations on the Annual Report of the CD and the corresponding resolution in the First Committee of the UN General Assembly.

Pakistan has initiated consultations in its role as President of the CD. Today, Ambassador Tahir Hussain Andrabi chaired a meeting of the previous Presidents of the Conference for the 2026 session and held consultations with representatives of the regional groups.

The United Nations Conference on Disarmament is the world’s single multilateral forum for negotiating disarmament and arms control treaties. Based at the United Nations Office at Geneva, it brings together 65 member states, including all States possessing nuclear weapons.

The agenda of the CD includes key issues such as the cessation of the nuclear arms race, the prevention of nuclear war, and the prevention of the weaponisation of outer space, among other matters.

The CD and its predecessor bodies have negotiated some of the most consequential instruments of the international security architecture, including the Biological Weapons Convention, the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

Pakistan’s assumption of the CD Presidency at this critical juncture reaffirms the trust placed by the international community in Pakistan’s diplomatic leadership and its constructive role in multilateral arms control and disarmament diplomacy. It places Pakistan at the centre of the global discourse on arms control, disarmament, and international peace and security.