Pakistan re-elected to executive council of chemical weapons watchdog

Published December 4, 2021
The building of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is pictured in The Hague, Netherlands. — Reuters/File
The building of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is pictured in The Hague, Netherlands. — Reuters/File

Pakistan has been re-elected to the executive council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the Foreign Office said in a statement on Saturday.

Pakistan will now be a member of the executive council for a further two years from 2022 to 2024.

Elections for the council were held during the recently concluded 26th session of the Conference of States Parties in the Netherlands from November 29 to December 2.

The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) — the world's first multilateral disarmament agreement with 193 states as parties — is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction, according to the FO statement.

The executive council is the principal policy-making organ of the OPCW, which is responsible for supervising the effective implementation of and compliance with the CWC. It also supports the scientific and economic development of its member states in the peaceful uses of chemistry, it added.

Pakistan has been a member of the executive council since 1997.

"Pakistan has been contributing constructively towards the fulfillment of the objectives of the CWC and regularly hosts OPCW routine inspections at its relevant facilities," the Foreign Office said.

It termed Pakistan's re-election to the council a testament to the country's positive role in the watchdog, adding that it reaffirmed the confidence of other member states in Pakistan's ability to provide "effective leadership and impetus to the work of the OPCW".

Opinion

Editorial

Business concerns
Updated 26 Apr, 2024

Business concerns

There is no doubt that these issues are impeding a positive business clime, which is required to boost private investment and economic growth.
Musical chairs
26 Apr, 2024

Musical chairs

THE petitioners are quite helpless. Yet again, they are being expected to wait while the bench supposed to hear...
Global arms race
26 Apr, 2024

Global arms race

THE figure is staggering. According to the annual report of Sweden-based think tank Stockholm International Peace...
Digital growth
Updated 25 Apr, 2024

Digital growth

Democratising digital development will catalyse a rapid, if not immediate, improvement in human development indicators for the underserved segments of the Pakistani citizenry.
Nikah rights
25 Apr, 2024

Nikah rights

THE Supreme Court recently delivered a judgement championing the rights of women within a marriage. The ruling...
Campus crackdowns
25 Apr, 2024

Campus crackdowns

WHILE most Western governments have either been gladly facilitating Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, or meekly...