Foreign Secretary Mr Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry Delivers Statement at the UNGA Sidelines Event on Commemoration of International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons

Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhary made a statement at an event organized today on the margins of the 70th UN General Assembly to commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

The Foreign Secretary stated that Pakistan had been obliged to develop nuclear capability for self-defence and deterrence. He added that it was an existential choice that Pakistan made to preserve strategic stability in South Asia. He underscored that non-discriminatory, universal, comprehensive and general nuclear disarmament remained the highest priority on the international security agenda. He reaffirmed Pakistan’s support to the goal of elimination of nuclear weapons through a global, verifiable and non-discriminatory legal instrument.

While reiterating that Pakistan’s nuclear policy continued to be guided by the principles of restraint and responsibility, the Foreign Secretary said that the pursuit of peace and stability in South Asia through the resolution of all outstanding issues, including the core issue of Kashmir, remained the cornerstone of Pakistan’s policy.

New York
30 September 2015

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