External affairs minister S. Jaishankar on Monday warned that the misuse of biological weapons by non-state actors was no longer a "distant possibility", calling for an overhaul of the global biosecurity architecture under the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC).

"Bioterrorism is a serious concern that the international community has to be adequately prepared for. Yet the BWC still lacks basic institutional structures...," Jaishankar told a conference on "50 years of the Biological Weapons Convention: Strengthening Biosecurity for the Global South" here.

"It 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."

Referring to the uncertain international security environment, Jaishankar said rapid developments in science and technology had led to the availability and affordability of sophisticated biotechnology tools and a marked reduction in the costs of sequencing and synthesis.

"Recent outbreaks, including the Covid-19 pandemic, which affected each and every one of us, have imposed a steep learning curve for policymakers and practitioners alike. These developments have raised new questions to be considered in the context of the implementation of the BWC."

Jaishankar added: "It is clear that whether a biological threat is natural, accidental, or deliberate, it moves fast; it defies borders, and it can, and has overwhelmed systems.

"Public health and security may look like separate worlds. In reality, they actually reinforce each other. Systems that detect and contain natural outbreaks also help counter deliberate ones. Strong health systems are strong security systems."

Jaishankar said no country could manage such threats alone.

"There is no single solution, but international cooperation comes to being the closest to one," he said while making a case for including the Global South in the discussion on dealing with bio-weapons.

“Many countries in our region still face deep gaps — fragile healthcare, weak surveillance, limited laboratories, slow emergency response, and unequal access to vaccines and medicines. These are not just developmental issues; they are also global risks," he said.

"If biosecurity is uneven, so is global safety. The Global South is the most vulnerable and has the most to gain from stronger biosecurity. It also has the most to contribute. Its voice must therefore shape the next 50 years of the BWC."

Jaishankar reaffirmed India’s commitment to ensuring the non-proliferation of sensitive and dual-use goods and technologies. He underlined the country’s “robust legal and regulatory system” to implement the provisions of UNSC Resolution 1540 on non-proliferation and strategic trade controls.

The minister emphasised that scientific tools were evolving faster than global rules, and said that synthetic biology, genome editing and AI-driven design had made biological manipulation easier than ever.

“For 50 years, the BWC has stood by one simple idea: that humanity rejects disease as a weapon. But norms survive only when nations renew them. The next 50 years will demand concerted action," he said.

"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 said India was ready to play its part in ensuring global biosecurity.