Nepal

Nepal is not a state party to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. Nepal supports the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons. Nepal is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, which supports the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapon systems.

In December 2025, Nepal voted in favour of UN General Assembly Resolution 80/57 on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Mindful of the challenges and concerns autonomous weapons systems raise from humanitarian, legal, security, technological and ethical perspectives, Resolution 80/57 stresses the urgent need for the CCW to address the challenges and concerns posed by autonomous weapons systems, and calls upon the High Contracting Parties of the CCW to ‘work towards completing the set of elements for an instrument being developed within the mandate of the Group of Governmental Experts, with a view to future negotiation.’

At the 79th UN General Assembly First Committee in October 2024, Nepal voted in favour of Draft Resolution L.77 on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Draft Resolution L.77 raises concerns about the ‘negative consequences and impact of autonomous weapon systems on global security and regional and international stability’ and stresses ‘the importance of the role of humans in the use of force to ensure responsibility and accountability and for States to comply with international law.’ It also notes ‘the repeated calls by the Secretary-General to urgently conclude negotiations of a legally binding instrument with prohibitions and regulations for autonomous weapons systems, in line with a two-tier approach.’ The Resolution will convene open informal consultations in 2025 over two days in New York, ‘to consider the report of the Secretary-General in full complementarity with and in a manner that supports the fulfilment of the mandate of the Group of Governmental Experts in order to further the international community’s understanding of the issues involved by discussing the full range of views received, including proposals and relevant aspects raised in the report that may thus far not have been discussed in detail in the Group of Governmental Experts.’

Speaking at the UN General Assembly First Committee in October 2024, Nepal stressed that ‘urgent attention is required to regulate autonomous weapons systems’, and emphasised ‘the need for inclusive global governance that guarantees meaningful human oversight over AI systems’.^[1]Statement by Nepal, 79th UNGA First Committee, 15 October 2024

In December 2023, Nepal voted in support of UN General Assembly Resolution 78/241 on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Resolution 78/241 stressed the ‘urgent need for the international community to address the challenges and concerns raised by autonomous weapons systems’, and mandated the UN Secretary-General to prepare a report, reflecting the views of member and observer states on autonomous weapons systems and ways to address the related challenges and concerns they raise from humanitarian, legal, security, technological and ethical perspectives and on the role of humans in the use of force.

Speaking at First Committee in 2023, Nepal stated that it is ‘equally concerned about the potential misuse of artificial-intelligence (AI) and dual use technology to escalate conflicts including the use of WMDs.’^[2]Statement by Nepal, UNGA First Committee, 18 October 2023. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com23/statements/18Oct_Nepal.pdf

At the 2020 UN General Assembly First Committee meeting, Nepal stated that it ‘supports the international normative frameworks to regulate the use of frontier technologies including drones and lethal autonomous weapons.’^[3]Statement by Nepal, UN General Assembly First Committee, 16 October 2020, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com20/statements/16Oct_Nepal.pdf