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Statement by Ambassador Sujata Mehta of India Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space CD Plenary – June 5, 2012

Mr. President, my delegation supports the substantive consideration of the issue of Prevention of Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS) in the CD, where it has been on the agenda since 1982. Peaceful applications of outer space are widely prevalent, and many more countries – developed and developing – aspire to gain access to outer space today and to deploy space assets for a vast array of applications. As this global common gets more populated and crowded, and as technology develops rapidly, it becomes natural to ask if the current international legal framework on outer space devised at the dawn of the space age more than three decades ago is adequate to address space security challenges both contemporary and future.

India is not in favour of the weaponisation of outer space. We believe that it is imperative to safeguard outer space as the common heritage of humankind and preserve and promote the benefits flowing from advances made in space technology and its applications for all. Achieving this objective will require a step-by-step process wherein legal measures are complemented by transparency and confidence-building measures, as well as arrangements that are non-discriminatory and have broad international acceptability.

Given the global dimension of space activity, ad hoc and partial arrangements cannot be the way forward. Outer Space should not become an arena of competitive policies but a new and expanding frontier of cooperative activity. This places a responsibility on space-faring nations to contribute to international efforts to advance the step-by-step process for achieving legally binding measures complemented by TCBMs.

Mr. President, India has been a pioneer in harnessing space technology for national development. We support international efforts to reinforce safety and security of space-based assets and to prevent the placement of weapons in outer space. Some of our colleagues are meeting today in Vienna to discuss a proposal from the EU for an International Code of Conduct on Outer Space. A UN Group of Governmental Experts will convene next month in New York to consider transparency and confidence-building measures in outer space. While non-discriminatory and universally acceptable TCBMs can be useful complementary measures, our objective should be the negotiation of legally binding instruments that enhance security in space and for all space users.

Here in Geneva in the CD, our first priority is to agree on a programme of work that allows us to commence substantive work, including inter alia in the negotiations on PAROS in a subsidiary body of the CD. Once that happens, there are a number of proposals, including for a draft treaty, which may be considered further.

Thank you.