Disarmament Diplomacy

P-5 Statement

5. The Ministers stressed that the improvement of the international situation based on full respect for the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations will facilitate disarmament and non-proliferation efforts.

The Ministers reiterated the need for universal adherence to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and called upon all States which have not yet done so to accede to the Treaty at an early date. They reaffirmed their commitments to nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament under Article VI of the NPT and expressed their willingness to contribute to the successful outcome of the 2000 Review Conference of the Treaty. They urged all NPT parties concerned to bring into force the comprehensive safeguards agreements required by the NPT as well as additional protocols based on the IAEA model protocol, and called upon other states which are prepared to accept measures provided for in the model protocol to conclude additional protocols with the IAEA. They expressed their intention to promote a further constructive review of the NPT during the 2000 NPT Review Conference. They understood the aspiration of the large number of non-nuclear-weapon states for security assurances. They recalled their respective security assurance commitments and that security assurances have been provided to all non-nuclear-weapon states parties to the NPT, as set forth in Security Council Resolution 984 (1995). Moreover, security assurances have been provided to a large majority of such states which are parties to existing nuclear weapon free zones established on the basis of agreement reached by the countries of the region concerned, through the relevant protocols attached to such treaties. In this context, they reaffirmed their commitment to the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference decisions. The Ministers believed that the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a milestone in the process of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, and supported its early entry into force in accordance with the treaty provisions. In this connection, they hoped that the conference on facilitating the entry into force of the CTBT, which will be convened in Vienna in October 1999, in accordance with article XIV of the Treaty would contribute to accelerating the ratification process in order to facilitate the early entry into force of the treaty. The Ministers expressed their concern and disappointment over the failure of the Conference on Disarmament to carry out substantive work in 1999, and called upon its member states to reach consensus on a work program as soon as possible in its next session.

The Ministers expressed their concern about the nuclear and missile arms race in South Asia, and called upon India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and refrain from taking any action that might further escalate the tensions in the region. They urged both countries to resume bilateral dialogue in the spirit of the Lahore Declaration and resolve their differences through peaceful means. They also called upon them to implement comprehensively and without delay all the provisions of Security Council resolution 1172 (1998), in particular signing and ratifying the CTBT and acceding to the NPT.

The Ministers called for continued efforts to strengthen the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and to preserve its integrity and validity, so that it remains a cornerstone in maintaining global strategic stability and world peace and in promoting further strategic nuclear arms reduction. They stressed the need for universal and comprehensive adherence to the Chemical Weapons Convention, urged its States Parties to fulfill all their legal obligations and called upon those states which have not yet acceded to the convention to do so at an early date. They stressed the importance of strengthening the effectiveness of the Biological Weapons Convention in a comprehensive manner, and called upon the Ad Hoc Group of States Parties to accelerate its negotiations in keeping with its mandate to complete its work before the Fifth Review Conference in 2001.

The Statement also covered issues regarding the Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons and the amended Protocol on Mines, Booby Traps and Other Devices to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, the establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee in the Conference on Disarmament to negotiate a ban on the transfer of anti-personnel landmines, the continuing increase in illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons, the Firearms Protocol to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, terrorism and and the full implementation of Security Council resolutions relevant to Iraq.

The full text of the statement is available from the United States Information Service website at

http://www.usia.gov/products/washfile.intrel.html

© 1999 The Acronym Institute.

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