The high-level segment of the Conference on Disarmament commenced in Geneva yesterday under the presidency of Ambassador Omar Zniber of Morocco and will continue until 25 February 2026.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, Vijitha Herath, addressing the Conference via a video message on the first day of the high-level segment, highlighted the importance of a robust multilateral system to overcome the prevailing challenges in the current global landscape and ensure enduring global peace and security, securing a stable world for present as well as future generations.

Reassuring Sri Lanka’s commitment to achieving the expected goals, Minister Vijitha Herath recalled Sri Lanka’s active role in global disarmament affairs over the past years as a developing island nation from the Global South, according to the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva.

Highlighting Sri Lanka’s significant commitments to preventing an arms race in outer space and to the total elimination of nuclear weapons, Minister Herath underscored that Sri Lanka will continue to support the establishment of Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones in the Middle East.

Emphasizing that Sri Lanka is cognizant of the impact of emerging technologies on International Humanitarian Law, Minister Herath highlighted that Sri Lanka has been advocating for the early commencement of negotiations on a legally binding instrument to prohibit Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems.

Addressing the Conference, Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, highlighted the importance of renewed commitment to multilateralism to overcome the challenges posed by current geopolitical tensions. Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Cuba, Indonesia, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, and Norway, as well as the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Arms Control and Non-Proliferation of the U.S. Department of State and the Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), also addressed the Conference on 23 February in person, while many other leaders joined with video statements.

Ambassador Sumith Dassanayake, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva and other international organizations in Switzerland, joined the high-level segment representing Sri Lanka, the statement said.

The Conference on Disarmament was recognized by the Tenth Special Session on Disarmament of the United Nations General Assembly (SSOD-I) in 1978 as the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community. The Conference comprises 65 member states, including the five nuclear-weapon states. Sri Lanka became a member of the Conference on Disarmament in 1978.