No First Placement of Weapons in Outer Space: Joint Statement

Pakistan and Russia signed a joint statement on “No First Placement of Weapons in Outer Space”. The joint statement was signed in the sidelines of the Council of Foreign Ministers’ meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Joint Statement

• The joint statement declared the intent of both Russia and Pakistan that in no circumstance they will be the first to place weapons of any kind in outer space and they will make all possible efforts to prevent outer space from becoming an arena for military confrontation and to ensure security in outer space activities.
• The joint statement reiterates the commitment of Russia and Pakistan to refrain from the threat or use of force in Outer Space activities, adding both encourage other responsible space-faring nations to follow this example.
• The joint statement underlines the 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 socio-economic development.

The joint statement comes months after  India announced that it shot down one of its satellites in space on March 27 with an anti-satellite missile which made India only the fourth country after the US, Russia and China to acquire the strategic capability to shoot down enemy satellites. Pakistan had condemned the launch as the militarization of space.