Topic: Autonomous Weapon Systems
Country: Nepal
Delegate Name: Karthik Vuyyuru
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Nepal position papers GLIMUN 2015 committees
Autonomous Weapon Systems have been emerging into the scene in the past decade. Instead of being controlled out of a drone base, autonomous weapons are programmed to make decisions by themselves. Think of it as an autopilot system. Autonomous Weapon Systems may be the next step in warfare, but there are many risks. Many developed nations are starting to implement with this technology. Many of these countries want to continue this type of research in their future. Some of the risks could include unintentional bombings or attacks on places and an accidental start to a war. It is also tough to test the ownership of an Autonomous Weapon Systems because a country could claim that the drone made its decision to fly into another country’s airspace. These ownership issues could cause tensions against countries and could boil to war. Many developed countries are exploring the uses of AWS and are starting to test them in developing countries. AWS can be very harmful if used in warfare, but for now they are still being developed and tested.
Nepal does not have a direct impact on the development of AWS. Nepal’s relationship with China seems to be growing. Nepal has recently started to rely more on China for supplies such as oil and money mainly because of India cutting off supplies. Therefore, Nepal supports China’s opinion on many points, even though Nepal has its own opinions as well. Nepal also supports their opinion about autonomous weapons. Nepal agrees China that although AWS can be dangerous, there still needs to be further research done on the topic. Right now, Nepal supports the advancement and research of Autonomous Weapon Systems. Nepal and China both believe that the rights of human life should be protected and not be taken away by an AWS that accidently bombs a civilian area. Both countries are keen to have more discussion of AWS in the future.
Nepal does not have the economy to produce autonomous weapons itself, but China or other countries could use Nepal as a base for Autonomous Weapon testing in the future. Weapon testing in Nepal could make its economy grow dramatically in the future and could also make Nepal a leading nation when concerning the manufacturing of AWS. Nepal, right now, is going along with China’s position that AWS are a topic that should be researched, but using them does not seem right for warfare purposes because they can be very harmful to peaceful people. Nepal calls for an involvement in AWS in the future, but for now there are more important problems in Nepal such as an oil crisis.
