Islamabad: Experts and scholars working on nuclear weapons-related issues stressed engagements and dialogue between stakeholders of various nuclear and non-nuclear states to reduce nuclear risks. They also called for collaborative actions and effective crisis communication to reduce the risks.
The consensus was reached at the roundtable on ‘Nuclear Responsibilities Approaches and Frameworks’ in Islamabad. The seminar was organized jointly by the Centre for Security, Strategy and Policy Research (CSSPR), University of Lahore, the UK-based British American Security Information Council (BASIC), and the Institute for Conflict, Cooperation and Security (ICCS), University of Birmingham.
The roundtable was opened for discussion after the director of CSSPR Dr. Rabia Akhtar, executive director of BASIC Sebastian Brixey-Williams and Professor of International Relations at the University of Birmingham Dr. Nicholas Wheeler introduced the Nuclear Responsibilities Framework. The roundtable was attended by a cross-section of academics, postgraduate students, experts, and scholars from various universities and think tanks in Islamabad and the University of Lahore.
In the ensuing conversation, participants argued that academicians and citizens should collectively introspect on what the responsibilities are apropos of nuclear weapons, adding that the scope of conversation must increase gradually.
The participants discussed the absence of an enabling environment for honest discussions between officials, academicians, and a bevy of other stakeholders which is absolutely critical to recalibrating ways in which people write and speak about nuclear weapons.
It was argued that bringing a degree of strategic empathy to the mix will pave the way for adversaries to communicate in ways that could reduce the prospect of unremitting nuclear risks. Participants also stressed the need for creating more avenues for expanding both nuclear learning and nuclear literacy in Pakistan.
The participants also stressed the need for conducting dialogues without preconditions and strings and pulls, for they would restrict the reach and impacts of the Nuclear Responsibilities Approach. This approach represents a new way of thinking about nuclear weapons policies and practices that put responsibility at its core. The approach aims to shift the global conversation on nuclear weapons from blame and suspicion to finding grounds to fulfil shared responsibilities and engage in productive dialogues.
Experts agreed that the languages and images used for nuclear discourse should be softened and reconstructed as it will provide states a platform from where they could enhance their understanding of shared responsibilities in their own respective regions and the world at large.
At the Islamabad conference, five young researchers engaged with the CSSPR-BASIC Nuclear Responsibilities project from Pakistan reflected on their engagement with the framework on how the youth should be engaged, with a view to augmenting understandings about broader sets of responsibilities in relation to nuclear weapons. CSSPR and BASIC agreed to continue working on the project to broaden the discourse on nuclear responsibilities in the future.
