For those us hoping that the Conference on Disarmament would get down to business on negotiation a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty, Britain’s PermRep to the CD tweeted some very disappointing news:
Conference on Disarmament fails to unblock decision to start work on FMCT. Very disappointing that 1 country unable to join the compromise.
The “1 country” is Pakistan.
Reaching Critical Will has been following the ins and outs of Pakistani obstinance — even if one suspects that the particulars of the Pakistan’s objections, such as to the procedure for rotating the chair, belies Islamabad’s desire to keep churning out fissile material.
Reuters Jonathan Lynn also has a very good summary if you want a quick overview.