Pakistan, Russia agree to prevent outer space becoming arena of military confrontation
The Joint Statement was signed by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his Russian counterpart.
ISLAMABAD (APP) - Pakistan and Russia Wednesday signed a Joint Statement on ‘No First Placement of Weapons in Outer Space’, expressing commitment to prevent outer space from becoming an arena of military confrontation.
The Joint Statement was signed by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organizations’s Council of Foreign Ministers meeting held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, a Foreign Office statement said.
It said the outer space was being used by an increasing number of states and Pakistan consistently highlighted the risks of weaponization which threatened the long term sustainability of peaceful space activities.
“The use of force against space-based objects, the development and deployment of Anti Ballistic Missile systems and their integration into space assets have added worrying dimensions to the issues relating to Outer Space,” the statement added.
The joint statement called for an urgent need to address gaps in the international legal regime governing the exploration and use of outer space with a view to ensuring that “no one threatens peaceful activities and applications of space technologies for socioeconomic development.
“Pakistan and Russia share a common position on the prevention of arms race in outer space and work collectively in various international fora towards that goal,” it said.
It said the signing of Joint Statement was a reflection of convergence of views between the two sides and encouraged other responsible space-faring nations to follow this example.
