NPT chairman circulates recommendations to confirm complete nuclear disarmament
May 5, 2019
by Junji Akechi, Staff Writer
NEW YORK — On May 3, during the third session of the Preparatory Committee for the Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), now taking place at United Nations headquarters in New York, Chairman Syed Mohamad Hasrin Aidid, from Malaysia, circulated among the representatives of the member states a draft paper with recommendations for the agenda for the Review Conference in 2020. The recommendations confirm the “general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control” in Article 6 of the NPT, which obliges the nuclear weapon states to reduce their nuclear arsenals, and include the fact that many nations endorsed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The committee will seek to unanimously adopt these recommendations on the final day, but the nuclear weapon states, including the United States, are expected to express opposition.
The recommendations consist of 55 items in five areas, including nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation, and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. In the section on nuclear disarmament, where there are 21 items, the largest number of any section, the recommendations call for the nuclear weapon states to give up their efforts to develop new nuclear weapons and upgrade their nuclear arms, and to swiftly fulfill “an unequivocal undertaking by the nuclear-weapon States to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals,” a provision agreed upon at the NPT Review Conference in 2000.
With regard to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the recommendations say that many nations have endorsed the treaty and recommend that the member states confirm that the treaty will accomplish the aims of the NPT. In addition, the recommendations include the significance of the agreement between the United States and Russia — the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty — to be terminated in August, and strong support for maintaining the nuclear agreement with Iran, from which the United States has withdrawn.
With regard to regional issues, the recommendations urge the member states to continue their efforts to realize the 1995 “Resolution on the Middle East,” which is aimed at making the Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction, and the complete denuclearization of North Korea and its return to the NPT regime. Mr. Syed said he hopes that the recommendations will be adopted unanimously, and he expressed his intention to consider the views of the member states during the discussions held the following week.
(Originally published on May 5, 2019)
NEW YORK — On May 3, during the third session of the Preparatory Committee for the Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), now taking place at United Nations headquarters in New York, Chairman Syed Mohamad Hasrin Aidid, from Malaysia, circulated among the representatives of the member states a draft paper with recommendations for the agenda for the Review Conference in 2020. The recommendations confirm the “general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control” in Article 6 of the NPT, which obliges the nuclear weapon states to reduce their nuclear arsenals, and include the fact that many nations endorsed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The committee will seek to unanimously adopt these recommendations on the final day, but the nuclear weapon states, including the United States, are expected to express opposition.
The recommendations consist of 55 items in five areas, including nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation, and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. In the section on nuclear disarmament, where there are 21 items, the largest number of any section, the recommendations call for the nuclear weapon states to give up their efforts to develop new nuclear weapons and upgrade their nuclear arms, and to swiftly fulfill “an unequivocal undertaking by the nuclear-weapon States to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals,” a provision agreed upon at the NPT Review Conference in 2000.
With regard to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the recommendations say that many nations have endorsed the treaty and recommend that the member states confirm that the treaty will accomplish the aims of the NPT. In addition, the recommendations include the significance of the agreement between the United States and Russia — the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty — to be terminated in August, and strong support for maintaining the nuclear agreement with Iran, from which the United States has withdrawn.
With regard to regional issues, the recommendations urge the member states to continue their efforts to realize the 1995 “Resolution on the Middle East,” which is aimed at making the Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction, and the complete denuclearization of North Korea and its return to the NPT regime. Mr. Syed said he hopes that the recommendations will be adopted unanimously, and he expressed his intention to consider the views of the member states during the discussions held the following week.
(Originally published on May 5, 2019)
