Asia-Pacific Disarmament Conference Kicks Off in NepalThe 13th Regional Disarmament Conference in the Asia-Pacific region kicked off Friday in Kathmandu with the aim of stimulating highly professional dialogue among the regional countries and exchanging useful thoughts or perspectives on current challenges in the field of regional security and disarmament.Speaking at the inauguration of the meeting, Evgenity Gorkovskiy, Director and Deputy to the Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs of the United Nations, said that in the fast changing, complex and interdependent world, regional approaches in disarmament are playing an increasingly important role. "At the onset of a new century and in order to work out a disarmament strategy in Asia and the Pacific, it is worthwhile for us to look into specific security and disarmament concerns and interests in the sub-regions," he said. According to Gorkovskiy, the meeting will focus on the security and disarmament concerns of the following sub-regions: Northeast Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Korean peninsula. Gorkovskiy said the meeting will also deal with new frontiers for disarmament, namely discussing the challenges posed to international security by developments in the fields of information and telecommunications. The discussions at the meeting will also provide a good opportunity to clarify the current environmental agenda in the Asia-Pacific region and its relationship with disarmament, he added. Participating in the three-day meeting are about 40 delegates from 20 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including China, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, South Korea, India, Pakistan, Japan, Mongolia, Nepal and the United States, as well as delegates from the United Nations and regional organizations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. The meeting is jointly organized by the UN Regional Center for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific and the Nepali government. |
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