CD reviews second draft proposal to re-establish the Informal Working Group

Viola Giuliano | Reaching Critical Will
11 February 2014 

The Conference on Disarmament (CD) met on Tuesday, 11 February to discuss a new version of the draft proposal that was circulated last week regarding the re-establishment of the Informal Working Group (IWG). Statements were delivered by the delegations of India, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom (UK).

• The UK ambassador informed the CD that the UK will not attend the conference taking place 13-14 February in Nayarit, Mexico, on the Humanitarian Consequences of Nuclear Weapons.
• After further consultations, reservations expressed by some delegations with last week’s draft were accommodated in a second non-paper under the name ‘Proposed Amendments for Non-paper No. 1’
• The UK welcomed the re-establishment of the IWG, as a way to stop the erosion of credibility of the CD and its consensus-based approach. India applauded the work of the CD President and the P6 to accommodate the amendments in ‘non-paper No, 2’ and expressed its support for the latest draft.
• Pakistan generally supported the re-establishment of the IWG but endorsed the non-paper No. 1. Specifically, Pakistan requested the deletion of ‘any reference in the revised draft decision to any past programme of work, in particular CD/1864 of May 2009.’
• As concluding remarks of his Presidency, Ambassador Manor of Israel stated that, despite the need for further consultations, the CD has made ‘substantial progress with regard to the IGW text’.

Next plenary meeting

Next CD Plenary Session will be held Tuesday 18 February, at 10:00 in the Council Chamber.