Javed Iqbal
Delegates call for greater regional cooperation to stop use of autonomous weapons
ISLAMABAD,(Parliament Times): Delegates from eight Asian states, who met here at the invitation of Sustainable Peace and Development Organisation (SPADO) adopted a civil society declaration affirming the urgent need to foster greater regional cooperation by and between Asian states towards the goal of immediately launching negotiations of a new treaty to prohibit development, production, transfer, and use of fully autonomous weapons and retain meaningful human control over the use of force. Two-day meeting of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots brought members of civil society, academia, and the media together in Islamabad to discuss the serious ethical, moral, technical, legal, proliferation, and security concerns raised by the ongoing development of fully autonomous weapons, also known as lethal autonomous weapons systems or killer robots. In May 2013, Pakistan became the first nation to call for fully autonomous weapons to be prohibited, and it has repeatedly urged the creation of a new international ban instrument on these weapons. Pakistan has expressed multiple concerns with these weapons, finding that they will violate international humanitarian and human rights law as well as lower the threshold for going to war. Delegates of the regional meeting discussed the importance of building regional cooperation between states and civil society across South and Central Asia. They were joined by leading experts from Pakistan, including Mr. Ahmer Bilal Soofi, Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of Pakistan and Founding President, Research Society of International Laws (RSIL); Ms. Saima Sayed, Director of Arms Control and Disarmament, Arms Control Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Pakistan; Dr. Qibla Ayaz, Chairman Council of Islamic Ideology; and Brigadier (R) Azam Efendi. Campaign Outreach Manager for the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, Isabelle Jones said: “We are grateful for Pakistan’s continued leadership in the efforts to ban fully autonomous weapons, and warmly welcome the efforts of civil society in South and Central Asia to promote greater regional cooperation on this issue.” “It’s time for states in South and Central Asia to speak up in support of the inevitable treaty to ban killer robots. We must act quickly before technological development outpaces our ability to prevent the great humanitarian harm posed by fully autonomous weapons.” Raza Shah Khan, CEO of Sustainable Peace and Development Organisation (SPADO) said: “We thank the government of Pakistan for their support in organizing this historic meeting. The South Asian region cannot afford a new arms race in the area of fully autonomous weapons. Civil society must raise their voices to ban killer robots and promote greater regional peace and security.”
It is worth to recall here that guests from eight Asian states including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka attended the meet seeking broad based regional cooperation to prohibit development, production, transfer, and use of fully autonomous weapons.