Jaishankar cautions against misuse of bio-weapons

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday cautioned against the threat of non-state actors carrying out ‘bio-terrorism’ to spread diseases and dangerous pathogens.

“It is not a distant possibility or a theoretical concern,” the minister said as he suggested sweeping reforms in the biosecurity architecture under the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC).

“Misuse by non-state actors is no longer a distant possibility. Bioterrorism is a serious concern that the international community has to be adequately prepared for,” Jaishankar said addressing a two-day conference on ‘50 years of the Biological Weapons Convention: Strengthening Biosecurity for the Global South’.

The convention assumes that humanity rejects disease as a weapon. “But norms survive only when nations renew them…We must modernise the convention, we must keep pace with science and strengthen global capacity so that all countries can detect, prevent and respond to biological risks,” Jaishankar added.

The existing BWC has no compliance system, it has no permanent technical body and no mechanism to track new scientific developments. These gaps must be bridged to strengthen confidence, the minister said.

The minister reiterated India’s long-standing position seeking stronger compliance under the BWC, including verification designed for the needs of contemporary times, and systematic review of scientific and technological advancements to ensure governance keeps pace with innovation.

Jaishankar proposed a comprehensive framework that calls for high-risk agent identification, oversight of dual-use research, domestic reporting, incident management and continuous training. He emphasised that assistance during biological emergencies must be “fast, practical and purely humanitarian”.

In his keynote speech, Dr Samir V Kamat, Chairman, DRDO, noted that India envisions a “Bio-Secure Bharat” – a framework integrating one health, bio-defence and bio-economy under the umbrella of Atmanirbhar Bharat and Vision 2047 as a precursor to realise a “Bio-Secure World”.

He shared India’s will to cooperate on technologies, training and capacity-building to strengthen collective resilience.

Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, Prof Ajay Kumar Sood, drew attention to the priority India attaches to the integrated National One Health Mission, a whole of government and whole of society framework that links human, livestock, wildlife and environmental health, while building ecosystems that integrate biosecurity, biosafety, surveillance, capacity building and community engagement into a coherent national platform.

Scientific experts, policymakers and diplomats from over 80 countries and representatives from international and regional organisations, as well as Indian academia and industry were at the event.