By HIROKI TOHDA/ Correspondent
December 2, 2023 at 18:00 JST
Juan de la Fuente, the former Mexican ambassador to the United Nations who presided over the second states parties conference of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, addresses a Dec. 1 news conference after the closing of the session. (Hiroki Tohda)
NEW YORK--The second conference of states parties to the U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) closed here Dec. 1 with approval of a political statement condemning the prevailing mindset that places greater dependence on nuclear weapons in defense and national security policy.
The development is timely, given Russia’s threat to use nuclear weapons in its war with Ukraine.
Ninety-four nations took part in the conference, including 35 that participated as observers since they had not yet signed the treaty. Like last year, Japan did not take part even in the role as observer, but the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as atomic bomb survivors were in attendance.
The political statement said member nations would abide by the pledge to ban and abolish nuclear weapons, citing the threat such arsenals pose to mankind.
It also called for an end to rationalizing nuclear deterrence theory, arguing that the policy of mutual assured destruction (MAD) threatened national security and increased the risk that nuclear weapons might be used.
A main point of discussion in the conference that began Nov. 27 was to assess progress being made on a 50-item action plan approved at the state parties conference held last year.
Delegates also decided to submit a report at the next states parties conference scheduled for March 2025 in New York on recommendations for the establishment of a U.N. trust fund for victim assistance and environment remediation of areas contaminated by radiation from the use or testing of nuclear weapons.
Sixty-nine states have ratified or acceded to the TPNW, and 93 have signed it, according to the United Nations.
But none of the nuclear powers, nor nations like Japan that are protected by the U.S. nuclear umbrella, have signed the treaty.
Germany and Norway, both NATO members, were among the non-signatory nations that attended as observers.
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