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"The
treaty may be seen by many as essentially a product of and by the
exporters only. It falls short of striking an appropriate balance of
interests and obligations among the exporters and importers as well as
the affected states," said Pakistani Ambassador to the UN Masood Khan.
In
his remarks to the Arms Trade Treaty Conference at the UN headquarters
in New York - which concluded Thursday - Khan said the call for balance
was echoed by an overwhelming majority.
"Some
treaty provisions, however, legitimise in a global legal instrument
what the existing national and plurilateral export control systems
cover. The interests of exporting countries have been accommodated in
the form of special exemptions, exceptions and protections," he has
said.
The
Treaty fell apart due to lack of consensus among the 193 member
countries because of opposition from North Korea, Iran and Syria.
India
said the treaty in its present form would compromise with its national
interest mainly it does it favours the arms exporting nations and is
weak on arms supply to non-State actors.
Pakistan, however, remained silent on the second concerns raised by India.
Proponents
of the Treaty have now decided to put it to vote at the UN General
Assembly as early as Tuesday. While the final decision by India is yet
to be taken, New Delhi is most likely to end up abstaining, if not
voting against the draft treaty.
The US on Thursday, however, tried to ally Indian fears by arguing that it "does not harm" India's national interest.
"My
own view is that this treaty will not be harmful to India's security
and certainly not in any way harm the very strong bilateral relationship
between India and the United States," Tom Countryman, head of the US
delegation to the Arms Trade Treaty Conference told reporters during a
conference call late Thursday night.
In
her intervention during the closing arguments at the UN headquarters in
New York, India's Permanent Representative to Conference on
Disarmament, Geneva and Head of the Indian Delegation to the Arms Trade
Treaty Conference, Sujata Mehta, said that the final version fell short
of India's expectations and that of other likeminded countries.
"At
the commencement of this Conference India had made clear that the ATT
should make a real impact on illicit trafficking in conventional arms
and their illicit use especially by terrorists and other unauthorised
and unlawful non-State actors. The provisions in the final draft on
terrorism and non-state actors are weak and diffused and find no mention
in the specific prohibitions of the Treaty," Mehta said in her
intervention.
India,
she said, has stressed consistently that the ATT should ensure a
balance of obligations between exporting and importing states.
"India
cannot accept that the Treaty be used as an instrument in the hands of
exporting states to take unilateral force majeure measures against
importing states parties without consequences," she said.
"The
relevant provisions in the final draft do not meet our requirements.
There is a fundamental imbalance in the text which is flawed as the
weight of obligations is tilted against importing States. As an
importing state we will take measures to ensure that the treaty does not
affect the stability and predictability of defense cooperation
agreements and contracts entered into by India," Mehta argued.
The
draft text came up for approval on Thursday after the UN members failed
to adopt it in July last year even after month-long negotiations.
UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed disappointment on the failure
of the United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty to reach an
agreement on the text, which for the first time would have regulated the
international arms trade.
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