Bangladesh has assumed the presidency of a major UN forum on disarmament.
The Conference of Disarmament in the United Nations Headquarters in Geneva is recognised as a significant body in disarmament discourse with all nine nuclear states figuring among its 65 members.
Once in nearly 11 years, the opportunity to preside over the Conference on Disarmament rotates among its Member States, said the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh in Geneva.
As the President of the Conference, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh M Shameem Ahsan urged the Member States to revitalise multilateral negotiations in pursuit of the disarmament goals. He reiterated Bangladesh’s commitment to general and complete disarmament to preserve global peace and security.
He paid tribute to the victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings on its 75th anniversary this year, and emphasised on upholding and strengthening the global disarmament architecture.
He also expressed concerns over the ever-growing military expenditure.
“While the Covid-19 continues to rattle the global economy, particularly of the developing countries, we do not yet see any indication of cutting down military expenditure by a number of countries”.
He said Bangladesh always advocates for channelling the massive resources deployed for arms build up to deserving imperatives of economic development as a nation in development transition.
