diminish the priority attention which should be accorded and applied to conventional weapons and other non-nuclear weapons of mass destruction. Conventional weapons pose a practical lethal danger to human life. The world has indeed been seriously scarred by violence and conflict borne out of conventional war." It should also be borne in mind that the world's armed forces are estimated to total more than 25 million military personnel. This represents an increase of more than 30 per cent over the past two decades. Conservative estimates indicate that the total conventional weapons inventory includes over 140,000 main battle tanks, over 35,000 combat aircraft, 21,000 helicopters, over 1,100 major surface ships and over 700 attack submarines. MLG/ve A/C.l/40/PV.4 56 (Mr. Cheang, Singapore) Unlike nuclear weapons, these weapons have been or are still being used in many conflicts throughout the third world. While it is not my intention to downgrade the urgent need to discuss and debate the issue of nuclear disarmament, I sincerely believe that the 16 million to 25 million souls who have perished in conventional conflicts deserve our giving an equal amount of time, effort and consideration to discussing in this Committee the dangers of conventional war as well as the production, deployment and export of conventional weapons to the third world by the super-Powers and their allies. I therefore fully agree with the remark made earlier by the representative of Finland, Mr. Klaus Tornudd, when he said: "The conventional arms build-up has traditionally been overshadowed by a preoccupation with the threat presented by nuclear weapons." (supra, p. 26) Given the above realities, third-world countries should give careful and serious consideration to the question as to whether one should continue to devote a disproportionately large amount of time to discussing nuclear war and its self-evident dangers. Rather, what should concern us in the third world is whether 
**Analysis**
The text discusses the issue of conventional weapons and their impact on human life and conflict, highlighting the need for equal attention to be given to this issue alongside nuclear disarmament. The focus is on the global implications of conventional weapons, including their use in conflicts and the devastating effects on human life.

**Category**
International relations, Security and defense