India and Israel oppose UN resolution on arms control — The Hindu

India and Israel voted against a draft resolution on the control of conventional arms at the regional and subregional levels. According to The Hindu, the document, submitted by Pakistan and Belarus, was approved by the UN General Assembly’s First Committee on November 2: 180 states voted in favor, two voted against, and there were no abstentions.

India and Israel were the only countries that did not support the draft in the UN General Assembly, which has 193 member states.

India’s position

Anmol Sher Bedi, First Secretary at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, stated that conventional arms control is a global issue. According to him, New Delhi is not convinced that this topic should primarily be considered in regional and subregional formats.

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Bedi also questioned the resolution’s call for the UN Disarmament Commission to formulate principles that could serve as a basis for regional agreements. He noted that the commission had already adopted by consensus documents on regional disarmament in 1993, conventional arms control and disarmament in 1999, and practical confidence-building measures in the field of conventional arms in 2017.

Content of the resolution

The document states that conventional arms control should be carried out primarily in a regional and subregional context, since most threats to peace and security after the Cold War arise between states within the same region or subregion.

The resolution also expresses the desire to promote agreements to strengthen regional peace and security at the lowest possible level of armaments and military forces. India separately voted against a paragraph mentioning proposals on conventional arms control in the context of South Asia. The document also states that countries with significant military capabilities bear special responsibility for advancing regional security agreements.