Last Monday was the International Women's Day. I would also like to take this opportunity to extend warm congratulations and greetings to all the ladies present. We are glad to see that women are playing an increasingly important role in the field of international peace and security, including arms control and disarmament, and have made valuable contributions to it. It is a great pleasure for me to have this opportunity today to share views with you on issues relating to the peaceful use of outer space and prevention of an arms race in outer space.
Outer space is the common heritage of the human beings.
It should be used entirely for peaceful purposes and for the economic, scientific and cultural development of all countries as well as the well-being of mankind. It must not be weaponized and become another arena of arms race. However, the fact is that the same country has over the years continued its efforts in developing space weapons with a view to deploying such advanced weapon systems in outer space in the near future. Huge amount of human, material and financial resources have already been put into relevant plans and programmes. The momentum has recently been greatly intensified.