The United Nations (UN) General Assembly’s First Committee approved a regional conventional arms-control draft by 180 votes to two on Nov. 2, advancing a proposal India opposed over its regional focus.
The vote had no abstentions. The committee sent the text to the full General Assembly for consideration; its approval was not a final decision by the Assembly.
Pakistan introduced the measure. Its representative described regional and global arms-control work as complementary and said conventional arms control contributes to peace and security at both levels.
India said before the vote that it would oppose the draft, including preambular paragraph 7 and operative paragraph 2. It objected to the regional framing and to a request that the United Nations Disarmament Commission consider principles for regional arms-control agreements. India argued that security concerns extend beyond regional borders and that conventional arms control should be approached as a global issue.
To explain its position on the Commission provision, India cited consensus outcomes from 1993, 1999 and 2017. It linked the 1993 outcome to regional disarmament, the 1999 outcome to conventional arms control and disarmament, and the 2017 outcome to confidence-building measures involving conventional weapons.
In separate votes on the text’s provisions, the committee retained preambular paragraph 7 by 162 votes to one, with three abstentions. It retained operative paragraph 2 by 113 votes to three, with 47 abstentions.
The draft is part of a recurring General Assembly process. The Assembly adopted the previous year’s version, Resolution 80/29, on Dec. 1, 2025, by 179 votes to one, with two abstentions. The current draft now goes to the full Assembly for consideration.
