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Japan, Australia to urge enhancing "negative security assurance" at NPT conference

by Kohei Okata, Staff Writer

On March 23, Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada announced the contents of the joint proposal the Japanese government, together with the Australian government, will submit to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference scheduled for May. The proposal will be submitted to the Review Conference as a working paper consisting of 16 issues the international community should address, including nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation. The two governments will seek support for their proposal from the NPT signatories.

The proposal includes strengthening the "negative security assurance" by the nuclear weapon states in pledging not to attack non-nuclear weapons states that adhere to the NPT, and demanding that the conference's final document mention reducing the role of nuclear weapons.

Others issues include increasing the transparency of the nuclear capability of nuclear weapon states, the early conclusion of the Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty (the Cut-Off Treaty), and a reconfirmation of the right to the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

Eyeing the NPT Review Conference, the governments of Japan and Australia have been strengthening their cooperation. They issued a joint statement on realizing a world without nuclear weapons after a foreign ministerial conference held last month. In that statement, they mapped out a course toward limiting the role of nuclear weapons solely to nuclear deterrence. However, in the statement made on March 23, the proposal was toned down to "reducing the role." Foreign Minister Okada called the contents of the proposal more realistic at this time and expressed his determination to have the proposal reflected in the final document of the Review Conference.

(Originally published on March 24, 2010)

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