India and Israel cast sole no votes on UN arms control draft

The 180-2 margin left India and Israel alone against 180 states on a text that treats regional arms limits as a route to security.

The vote

Pakistan and Belarus introduced the draft jointly. Its title is "General and Complete Disarmament: Conventional Arms Control at the Regional and Subregional Levels". It cleared the First Committee on Monday, 2 November, with 180 votes in favour, two against and no abstentions, in a 193-member body.

Pakistan's UN mission said the country had "for decades, led initiatives" on conventional arms control, confidence-building measures and regional disarmament. Bedi said India's vote was consistent with its previous position.

Israel was the other opposing vote. INSIGHTS IAS says Israel has occasionally opposed localized arms ceilings over multi-front security considerations.

Why India voted no

Anmol Sher Bedi, First Secretary at India's Permanent Mission to the UN, delivered India's explanation of vote. He said conventional arms control was a global issue. Countries should not pursue it primarily through regional and subregional frameworks.

"We are not fully convinced that it should be pursued primarily in regional and sub-regional contexts," Bedi said.

India also objected to a request that the UN Disarmament Commission consider developing principles for regional agreements on conventional arms control. Bedi said the commission had already adopted consensus outcomes on regional disarmament in 1993 and on conventional arms control and disarmament in 1999. It added recommendations on confidence-building measures involving conventional weapons in 2017.

"That makes three consensus outcomes on this very subject in the very body now being asked to start from scratch," Bedi said.

Bedi also asked why a subject that had already received lengthy deliberation needed another round, "unless the aim is to keep the UN disarmament machinery busy".

The South Asia paragraph

India did not only vote against the resolution as a whole. It also voted against a single paragraph that refers to conventional arms control proposals in the context of South Asia.

That paragraph noted with "particular interest" initiatives in different regions. It cited consultations among some Latin American countries and proposals for conventional arms control in South Asia. The resolution separately states that militarily significant countries, and those with larger military capabilities, have a special responsibility to promote regional security agreements.

Bedi's objection was geographical. Countries' security concerns extend beyond narrowly defined regional boundaries, he said.

"This assumes that the security concerns of States politely stop at their regional borders. They do not," he said.

He added that preserving balance in a region or subregion appeared unrealistic.

What the resolution says

The draft argues for regional and subregional action. Countries should primarily pursue conventional arms control at those levels. Its reasoning: most threats to peace and security in the post-Cold War period arise among countries within the same region. It calls for agreements that strengthen regional peace and security while keeping armaments and military forces at the lowest possible levels.

It also asks the UN Disarmament Commission to consider developing principles. Those principles could serve as a framework for regional agreements.

What happens next

The draft now goes to the full General Assembly for final adoption.

General Assembly resolutions are generally not legally binding, but they can establish international norms and provide a basis for further negotiations on disarmament, security assurances and regional arms control, Arab News reported.