India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj has said that India is facing a serious challenge of cross-border supply of illicit weapons using drones. Speaking at the UN Security Council’s open debate, Kamboj stated that certain states with dubious proliferation credentials collude with terrorists and other non-state actors. Pakistani drones carrying arms and drugs have been shot down very often by Border Security Force. Kamboj called on the international community to condemn such behaviour and hold such states accountable for their misdeeds.
Ms. Kamboj’s statement highlights the potential dangers posed by the illicit transfer and illegal diversion of various types of weapons, including conventional arms, Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW), Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), and their associated materials, equipment, and technology to non-state actors such as armed groups and terrorists. The collapse of global disarmament agreements and the disarmament architecture built over the years raises concerns about the future and the challenges that may arise as a result. Such agreements are crucial to maintaining international peace and security by regulating the transfer and use of weapons, and their failure could result in an increase in violent conflicts, instability, and loss of life.
India’s position on the issue of proliferation risks due to new and emerging technologies is indeed consistent. India has been advocating for the need to strengthen international cooperation and promote responsible behavior in cyberspace, outer space, and other emerging areas of technology to prevent their misuse by non-state actors. India has also been stressing the importance of adopting a comprehensive approach to counter-terrorism, which includes measures to prevent the financing of terrorism and the illicit transfer of arms and related materials, equipment, and technology to terrorist groups. India has also been actively involved in various international initiatives to address the threat of WMD proliferation, such as the Nuclear Security Summit process and the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, among others.
