India and Israel oppose UNGA resolution on conventional arms control

According to a report by The Hindu, India and Israel have voted against a draft resolution brought by Pakistan and Belarus at the United Nations regarding conventional arms control at regional and sub-regional levels. Titled 'General and Complete Disarmament: Conventional Arms Control at the Regional and Sub-Regional Levels', the proposal was approved on Monday, November 2, 2026, by the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly with a majority of 180 votes, while two votes were cast against it and no country abstained.

In the 193-member UN body, only India and Israel were the two nations that voted against this resolution. Explaining India's vote, Anmol Sher Bedi, First Secretary at India's Permanent Mission to the UN, stated that conventional arms control is a global issue. Presenting India's vote in the UNGA First Committee, he said that India is not entirely convinced that this issue should be pursued primarily in a regional and sub-regional context. He clarified that India has voted against this resolution in accordance with its previous stance.

Furthermore, India also raised questions against the request for the UN Disarmament Commission to formulate principles for preparing a structural framework for conventional arms control agreements at the regional level. Expressing surprise, Anmol Sher Bedi stated that this commission had already unanimously adopted guidelines and recommendations on regional disarmament in 1993, guidelines on conventional arms control and disarmament in 1999, and recommendations on practical confidence-building measures in the field of conventional arms in 2017. He questioned what the purpose of restarting discussions on a subject that has already been discussed at such length could be, other than keeping the UN disarmament machinery busy.

Anmol Sher Bedi also objected to the resolution's approach of maintaining a balance of defense capabilities within regional or sub-regional limits. He stated that this approach assumes countries' security concerns stop within their regional borders, but reality is not like that. For known reasons, everyone understands that these security concerns extend far beyond narrowly defined regions and sub-regions. Most importantly, the idea of maintaining balance within a region or sub-region appears impractical.

On the other hand, the resolution notes that since most threats to peace and security in the post-Cold War era primarily originate among countries located in the same region or sub-region, conventional arms control needs to be pursued primarily in regional and sub-regional contexts. Along with this, the resolution has expressed a desire to promote agreements aimed at strengthening regional peace and security at the lowest possible level of armaments and military forces.

India also cast a separate vote against a paragraph referring to conventional arms control proposals presented in the context of South Asia. Recognizing the relevance of conventional arms control with regional security, this paragraph mentioned with 'special interest' various regional initiatives, including negotiations between some Latin American countries and proposals made in the context of South Asia. The resolution also stated that militarily significant states and states with major military capabilities bear a special responsibility in promoting agreements for regional security.