US Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Friday that the world was living "in the shadow of nuclear disaster" due to growing mistrust and tensions between the nuclear powers.
The UN chief told a high-level meeting
marking the recent International Day for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons that
progress on getting rid of nuclear weapons "has stalled and is in danger
of being reversed." And he said tensions between nuclear-armed nations
have "increased the nuclear threat" from weapons.
Guterres, for example, has expressed deep
concern over the growing conflict between the Trump administration and China.
Relations between the United States and Russia are at an all-time low.
Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan are fighting over Kashmir, and India still had
a border clash with China. And North Korea is proud of its nuclear weapons.
Without naming any country, Guterres said
nuclear weapons modernization programs "threaten the race for quality
nuclear weapons", not to increase the number of weapons but to "make
them faster, more sticky and more accurate". Is.
Guterres also referred to the only
agreement on the size of the world's largest nuclear weapons - the New
Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the United States and Russia -, which
expires next year.
"It is imperative that the two
countries extend it without a maximum delay of five years," he said,
warning that without the agreement, "there is a dangerous possibility of a
return to unorganized strategic competition."
The Secretary-General said the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty, or NPT, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary
this year, is the cornerstone of nuclear weapons and its efforts to stop the
spread of nuclear weapons.
The five-year review of its implementation
was postponed’ until next year due to the COVID-19 epidemic, and Guterres urged
his 191 parties to use the extra time to strengthen the agreement, which
includes "nuclear weapons." That includes solid progress toward
elimination. "
Guterres said he was also looking forward
to entering into the first nuclear non-proliferation treaty, adopted in July
2017 by 122 countries. Once it is 50 ratified, the agreement will take effect
in 90 days, and with the ratification of Malaysia on September 30, it is now
46.
At Friday's high-level meeting, 103 of the
193 US member states agreed to speak every two minutes. But many talked for a
long time, but only 79 spoke, and the United States said it would post the
rest.
Among the major nuclear powers, Russia and
China were on the list of speakers but could not be reached’ for comment. The
United Kingdom and France walked out. North Korea and Israel, which is widely
rumored to have a nuclear weapon, have never publicly acknowledged it. India
and Pakistan were supposed to talk, but only India had to comment.
Many speakers recalled that the meeting
took place 75 years after the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, killing 210,000 people and accelerating the end of World War II.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javed
Zarif, whose country is still part of the 2015 agreement with Russia, China,
Britain, France and Germany, aimed at preventing the Islamic Republic from
acquiring nuclear weapons, said the meeting "Provides a unique opportunity
to mobilize the world. Free humanity from nuclear dreams.
In pre-arranged remarks, Zarif accused the
United States of "developing new nuclear weapons and recklessly lowering
the threshold for their deployment." He said the United States had
"severely damaged the NPT" by illegally withdrawing from the 2015
nuclear deal with Iran. 1987 mid-range nuclear deal with Russia on missiles.
Zarif also lashed out at US support for
Israel, saying "the only owner of nuclear weapons in our region." He
called on the international community to "force Israel - which has a
strong DNA aggression - to gain immediate access to the NPT and dismantle its
nuclear arsenal" and "to intervene." To appear before the
government for inspection.
The Iranian minister called on the General
Assembly to declare "a mandatory rule of international law that a nuclear
war cannot be won - and should never be fought," and that "a timely
nuclear disarmament We have to develop a solid program.”
"Imagine if billions of dollars lost
globally were spent on financing the war against Code 19," Zarif said.
Indian Foreign Minister Harsh Vardhan
Shringla reiterated the country's long-standing commitment to nuclear
disarmament through a step-by-step process, saying it was
"meaningful" to build trust and confidence in all nuclear-weapon
states. Need to talk.
Despite the "catastrophic inhumane
consequences" of the atomic bombings, Swedish Foreign Minister Anne Linde
said "the nuclear threat still exists and the multilateral is under
intense pressure."
"Polarization and lack of trust is a
dangerous mixture, which we cannot ignore," he said.
Linde called on the United States and
Russia to immediately expand the new startup and welcomed recent talks on
"a broader, follow-on agreement, which could include China."
Sweden has launched the Stockholm
Initiative on Nuclear Disarmament with 15 non-nuclear countries, which aims to
"provide political support for the effective disarmament agenda under the
NPT framework."
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi
said "no significant progress" had been made’ by nuclear-armed states
in reducing their arsenals, and that current efforts to modernize them had
resulted in "growing trust between countries." Is a loss. "
He called for the implementation of the
NPT, strengthening of arms embargoes, early ratification of the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and for all nuclear-weapon states to become
parties to a nuclear-free zone.
"Maintaining nuclear weapons is
clearly a zero-sum situation, while the complete elimination of such weapons
will ensure the supremacy of humanity," Marsudi said.
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