KARACHI, Pakistan

Pakistan has been elected as the Chairperson of the Annual Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), said a Foreign Ministry statement on Thursday.  

Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Ambassador Khalil Hashmi, will represent Islamabad as the chairperson of the CCW. 

The CCW represents an important arms control framework that envisages prohibitions and restrictions on certain conventional weapons that can cause unnecessary suffering to combatants or affect civilians indiscriminately. 

The Convention and its five Protocols strike a prudent balance between humanitarian concerns and legitimate military utility of certain categories of conventional weapons.  

The States parties meet annually to review the implementation of the Convention, as well as to explore the possibility of developing additional Protocols on new weapon systems of concern. 

"This year’s annual meeting will address several important issues including the role of autonomous weapons and the financial sustainability of the Convention", the statement said.

Pakistan’s unanimous election, it added, reflected recognition by the international community of the country’s longstanding contribution to promote international security through arms control instruments.