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Supporting the Hague Code of Conduct

an FRS project funded by the European Union

NEPALI PRIORITIES REGARDING NON-PROLIFERATION AND DISARMAMENT: THE CASE OF MISSILES

6 & 7 February 2025

Hotel Mystic Mountain, Nagarkot, Nepal

The two-day workshop in Nagarkot assembled senior officials, leading researchers, and policy practitioners from Nepal, France, and the UN Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament to deliberate on Nepal’s emerging contributions to missile non-proliferation, evaluate regional security dynamics in South Asia, and chart pathways for integrating Nepal more fully into global disarmament regimes.

AGENDA

Day 1:

Introduction

  • Alexandre Houdayer, Secretary General, Fondation pour la Recherche stratégique (FRS)

  • Prakash Kumar Suvedi, Representative of IFA

  • Mr. Tapas Adhikari, Former Ambassador, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nepal

  • Recorded message from the Amb. Stefan Klement, Special Envoy for Non-proliferation and Disarmament, EU

Session 1 : The global non-proliferation & disarmament architecture, the place of Nepal and the issue of means of delivery

Panellists:

  • Mr Aaron Junhoung Yoo, Deputy Director, UNRCPD
  •  

  • Mr Prakash Kumar Suvedi, Executive Director of the Institute of Foreign Affairs

  • Ms Emmanuelle Maitre, Senior Research Fellow, FRS

    • Regional priorities regarding non-proliferation and disarmament

    • Position and policies of Nepal on non-proliferation and disarmament

    • The inclusion of “means of delivery” in arms control

Session 2 : The proliferation of ballistic missiles: current trends and security challenges

Panellists :

  • Mme Emmanuelle Maitre, Senior Research Fellow, FRS

 

  • Mr Thibault Fournol, Research Fellow, FRS

 

    • Why ballistic missiles can be considered as destabilizing weapons?

    • Who has ballistic missiles today? Why does it matter in the region?

group picture

Day 2:

Session 3 : The HCoC: a multilateral confidence-building measure dealing with ballistic missiles

Panellists:

  • Recorded presentation by Amb. Alexander Wetzig, Ambassador, Permanent Representative, Embassy and Permanent Mission of Chile to the International Organizations in Vienna, HCoC Chair

 

  • Recorded presentation by Mr George Wilhelm Gallhofer, Head of Nuclear Disarmament, Non-proliferation and Delivery Systems at the Austrian Foreign Ministry, HCoC ICC

 

  • Mr Alexandre Houdayer, Secretary General, FRS

    • What is the HCoC? What is its objective?

    • How does it work? What are the obligations of subscribing states?

    • Perspectives for non-subscribing states and challenges

Session 4 : Regulating a dual-use technology: the case of missiles

Panellists: 

  • Mr Alexandre Houdayer, Secretary General, FRS
  •  

  • Mr. Ganesh Prasad Bhatta, Joint-Secretary in the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviations

  • Mr Aaron Junhoung Yoo, Deputy Director, UNRCPD

    • The importance of transparency regarding space and proximity between missiles and space launchers

    • Existing export control mechanism regarding missile and launcher technologies 
November
2025
Research Papers

The Shield and the Sword: The Impact of Ballistic Missile Defence on Missile Proliferation

Missile defence has become increasingly attractive in recent years, following the demonstration of its efficacity in the Israeli-Iranian conflict, and has epitomised by the ambitious Golden Dome programme. However, its relationship with missile proliferation is ambiguous. Arms control, non-proliferation and confidence building measures can to some extent address some of the most destabilizing features of this offense-defence competition.

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April
2024
Research Papers

The Rise of Small Launchers: What Impact on Ballistic Missile Proliferation?

This paper recalls the state of ballistic missile proliferation at the time of the adoption of the Code, before delving into the genesis of the Code and especially the various reports and meetings that promoted the adoption of a supply-side multilateral instrument. It describes the conferences and diplomatic efforts that led to the Code in 2002. It also explains why the Code ended up the way it is today with modest ambitions but concrete outcomes.

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April
2021
Issue Briefs

The HCoC and Latin America

Latin America is one of the regions with the highest level of support for the HCoC. This support reflects the historic commitment of the region in favour of disarmament and non-proliferation. The remaining four non-subscribing states – Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba and Mexico – have voiced concerns about the adoption of the Code outside the United Nations framework and its limited scope.

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