Mr. Milan Mijovic, President and the Founder of Serbian Office for Space Sciences, Research and Development (SERBSPACE) visited CIIT to deliver a talk on International Laws of Space and their significance in attaining UN’s SDGs on February 28th 2018.

Mr. Mijovic was received by Dr. Arshad Malik (Head International Office), Engr. Qaiser Nawab (Program Officer IO), Dr. Sohail Ahmed (Assistant Professor IR). He was first escorted to the JZ Library for briefing and a short tour. He was then led to the Lecture hall for the talk to the students who are registered in the international relations course. Dr. Sohail Ahmed formally introduced him to the students and briefly described the purpose of the talk.

Mr. Milan Mijovic delivered his talk about the space laws and their importance in achieving UN’s SDGs.  In his talk, he highlighted the need for the preservation of space where more than 500,000 pieces of debris are circling the space surrounding the earth having the lethal potential of causing unimaginable damage to the earth and its environment.  He talked about a UN body that looks after the laws that govern the use of outer space by the countries which have active space programs. In the year after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957, the United Nations General Assembly created an ad hoc Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOUS). The mission of the (COPUOUS) is “to review the scope of international cooperation in peaceful uses of outer space, to devise programmes in this field to be undertaken under United Nations auspices, to encourage continued research and the dissemination of information on outer space matters, and to study legal problems arising from the exploration of outer space.” The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is the Secretariat to this committee.

He talked about the liability claims caused by the space objects launched by different countries, the settlement of space related disputes, the rescue of astronauts, sharing of information about potential dangers in outer space, the use of space-related technologies, and international cooperation. He went on to talk about the fundamental principles to guide the conduct of space activities, including the notion of space as the common resource to be exploited positively by all humankind, the freedom of exploration and use of outer space by all states without discrimination, and the principle of non-appropriation of outer space.

In the end, Mr. Milan Mijovic thanked the International Office of CIIT for hosting him and giving him an opportunity to deliver a talk to the youthful students and answer their numerous queries about space.

Head IO presented souvenirs to Mr. Milan Mijovic as a token of appreciation and a memento to remember his visit to CIIT.  A group photo was taken inside the lecture hall before conclusion of the event.