UN to Hold NPT Review ConferenceSignatories to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) will meet Monday at the United Nations for a four-week review on the treaty's implementation since 1995.The meeting, scheduled for April 24-May 19, will be addressed by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. A total of 18 foreign ministers and 10 deputy foreign ministers in addition to a number of senior officials will take the floor, the U.N. confirmed over the weekend. The gathering is expected to focus on the treaty's universality, principles and objectives for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, the strengthening of the review process and compliance by non-nuclear weapons states, U.N. Under-Secretary-General for disarmament Affairs Jayantha Dhanapala said. Nuclear-weapon-free zones, security assurances and safeguards and peaceful uses of nuclear energy are also expected to be discussed, he indicated. Nine countries have joined the treaty since 1995, bringing total signatories to 187 by January 2000, leaving only four countries, namely Cuba, India, Israel and Pakistan outside the multilateral legal instrument. The nuclear tests by India and Pakistan, the two South Asian non-NPT states in May 1998 were seen as a challenge to the international community's efforts to eliminate the threats posed by weapons of mass destruction. The significant event following the 1995 review is the completion of a comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty (CTBT) in 1996. It has been signed by 155 states and ratified by over 50 of them. The United States, with the largest and most advanced nuclear arsenal, has not ratified the CTBT. The U.S. Senate rejected it in late 1999. |
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