India’s Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra met with UN Under Secretary General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu on Saturday to discuss India’s upcoming presidency of the Conference on Disarmament (CD) in 2024. This marks the first time India will hold the presidency of the CD, a crucial multilateral forum for negotiating arms control and disarmament agreements.
During the meeting, Kwatra and Nakamitsu exchanged views on India’s priorities for its presidency, which include focusing on substantive discussions on key disarmament issues like nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. India is expected to play a constructive role in facilitating dialogue and consensus-building among member states during its presidency.
“India is committed to global disarmament and non-proliferation, and we believe that the CD has a vital role to play in this regard,” Kwatra said after the meeting. “We will work closely with all member states to ensure that the CD makes meaningful progress during our presidency.”
Nakamitsu welcomed India’s leadership and expressed her confidence that India will make a significant contribution to the work of the CD. “India has a long and distinguished history of advocating for disarmament and non-proliferation,” she said. “I am confident that India will use its presidency to build on this legacy and advance the cause of disarmament.”
The CD is the sole multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community. It was established in 1979 and has over 65 member states. The CD has been instrumental in negotiating several landmark arms control treaties, including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
India’s presidency of the CD comes at a critical time for global disarmament. The world is facing a number of complex security challenges, including the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the threat of terrorism, and the increasing use of cyber weapons. India’s leadership role at the CD is an important opportunity to promote multilateral cooperation and address these challenges.