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Mr. Chairman,
The report of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) on its 61st Session, contained in the document A/73/20, provides a comprehensive review of the activities of the Committee.
We would like to extend our appreciation for the work done by the UN COPUOS ably led by its chair.
Mr. Chairman,
Pakistan is party to all of the five core multilateral treaties governing the peaceful uses of outer space, including the 1967 Outer Space Treaty; the 1968 Rescue Agreement; the 1972 Liability Convention; the 1975 Registration Convention; and the 1979 Moon Agreement.
We stand ready to explore the conclusion of additional legally binding instruments that would contribute to preventing the weaponization of outer space.
Pakistan has been a member of COPUOS since 1973. This Committee has an important role in maximizing the benefits of space capabilities in the service of humanity, particularly in the field of environment, health and disaster mitigation.
Mr. Chairman,
The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 recognized that the exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries and shall be the common province of all humanity and will remain humanity’s common heritage.
Pakistan adheres to the five principles of exploration and use of outer space for the benefit of all humanity: for peace, security and development. As a party to the five core treaties on outer space, we consider the universalization of legal instruments a prerequisite for global cooperation.
Pakistan is committed to:
Bridging the wide technological gap between states is also of vital importance to ensure that developing nations have an equitable right in the exploration, access and use of outer space for peaceful purposes without any discrimination.
We believe that in this regard, COPUOS has a critical role to play in assisting developing countries in the peaceful uses of outer space for their socio-economic development and the achievement of SDGs. It is the ideal platform for the promotion of technical assistance and technology transfer to developing countries in space-related activities, particularly In the areas of agriculture, health, water management, meteorology, climate change mitigation, health humanitarian assistance, disaster management, satellite navigation and communication.
Pakistan appreciates the role of COPUOS in developing the global legal regime of outer space and the framework for space governance. The definition and delimitation of outer space is one of the important agenda items before the Committee. Pakistan is of the view that a legally-binding consensus based international framework is required. To this end, Pakistan continues to engage in a most constructive manner to evolve consensus.
In our view, the COPUOS should remain focused on peaceful uses and exploration of outer space and aim at the capacity-building of nations with a view to furthering their knowledge and experience of space applications.
Pakistan hosted the 4th International Conference on the Use of Space Technology for Water Management in collaboration with UNOOSA (UN Office for Outer Space Affairs) and the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Prize for water. The Conference, held in Islamabad on 26 February – 2 March 2018, brought together more than 100 experts, educators and other stakeholders. Its objective was to discuss how space technology can contribute to better management of water resources particularly with reference to combating desertification, water storage as well as flood and drought monitoring.
Pakistan also attended the 12th meeting of the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite System (IGS), held in Kyoto (Japan) in December 2017, as an observer.
In July, this year, Pakistan launched a remote sensing satellite (PRSS-1) and a technology evaluation satellite (PakTEs-1A). The remote sensing satellite will enable Pakistan to meet its imagery requirements in the areas of land mapping, agriculture, urban and rural planning, environmental monitoring, natural disaster management and water resource management.
We are also considering upgrading our Institute of Space Technology to become part of the international network of Regional Centres for Space Science and Technology Education, affiliated with the United Nations. In this regard, Pakistan would welcome an evaluation mission of the Programme of Space Applications.
We have also started training our experts in the field of space law. We would look forward to cooperation with other member states for exploring avenues for training more experts in order to contribute to the development of international space law.
We would also like to highlight an important issue of space debris mitigation. Pakistan supports all instruments for the attainment of this goal. At the same time it must also be pointed out that emerging space-faring nations which are mostly developing countries, do not possess the requisite financial and technological resources to fully comply with the UNCOPUOS Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines.
We believe there is a moral and international responsibility to assist the new entrants in the implementation of these guidelines through provision of Space Situational Awareness and Conjunction Assessment Risk Analysis Systems. Advanced space faring countries should also be willing to contribute financially in order to absorb additional costs incurred on space craft design modifications by the developing countries. Their access to outer space should not be limited by setting overly-high technical standards, as it will be contrary to the provisos of the Outer Space Treaty and other relevant General Assembly resolutions.
Moreover, research, best practices, technologies and early warning information in this area should be available to all stakeholders. Otherwise the perils of space debris will continue to loom over us and our future generations, and would hamper the harnessing of the possible positive gains from outer space.
Mr. Chairman,
Pakistan consistently opposes militarization and weponization of outer space and any consequent arms race in outer space. We believe that such installation of weapons in space poses a grave threat to the future of our world. At the same time they also pose a great threat to the future of space operations and will impede our progress towards achieving long term sustainability of outer space activities.
Pakistan believes that it is our collective responsibility to keep outer space safe, secure and sustainable for catering to the needs of future generations.
We therefore support the long term sustainability of space activities.
Thank you.