नवीनतम
Jaishankar reiterates India’s support for full BWC implementation
NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, while speaking at the inaugural conference marking 50 years of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), reaffirmed India’s commitment to the Convention’s complete and effective implementation. The event titled “50 Years of the Biological Weapons Convention, Strengthening Bio-security for the Global South” was attended by experts and delegates from more than 80 countries.
Jaishankar underscored the need to modernise the BWC and said that countries of the Global South must play a proactive role in shaping the future of international biosecurity. He referred to India’s strong record on the non-proliferation of sensitive and dual-use technologies, the Vaccine Maitri initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic and the proposal for a National Implementation Framework addressing oversight of high-risk agents, dual-use research, domestic reporting, incident response and ongoing capability development.
He stressed that modernising the Convention is essential to ensure that it remains a safeguard between scientific progress and potential misuse in the life sciences. He pointed out that the BWC currently lacks institutional mechanisms such as a compliance system, a permanent technical body and a process to track emerging scientific developments, and called for strengthening these areas.
Jaishankar also emphasised the importance of global cooperation, noting that biological threats move rapidly across borders and require coordinated international response. He added that the Global South has the most to gain from enhanced biosecurity, and also has significant expertise and experience to contribute to the evolution of the Convention over the next five decades.
