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 

Issue Briefs

The HCoC and Space

The New Space trend – an ongoing innovative transformation of the space sector – has led to a rise of investment in small launch systems. While an increasing number of nations are gaining access to space, the number of private sector entities investing in this domain is also rising. Meanwhile, small space launch vehicles and ballistic missiles rely on increasingly similar technologies.

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Other publications

The Hague Code of Conduct Against Ballistic Missile Proliferation: “Lessons Learned” for the European Union Draft Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities

Concerns about the harm caused upon orbiting space objects – whether intentional or accidental – have increased in recent years, as well as the emerging awareness that the security and safety of national satellites – of vital importance for modern societies but at the same time so vulnerable – relies on a collective effort. In December 2008 the EU responded to these concerns by adopting a Draft Code of Conduct (EU Draft CoC) for outer space activities.

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