Delegates from 188 nations agreed on Wednesday on an agenda to review the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, ending 10 days of diplomatic wrangling and paving the way for the first serious discussions on improving the treaty's control of nuclear weapons.
Egypt had insisted that the month-long conference include discussion of a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East.
The deadlock was broken when delegates agreed to put a reference to previous conferences where that issue was discussed in a footnote to the agenda.
Ahmed Fatthala, Egypt's assistant foreign minister for international organizations, said agreement means that all three subjects discussed at the 1995 review conference will also be on the agenda at the current meeting -- the Middle East, disarmament and nonproliferation.
"These were the three pillars," he said. "We wanted to have a successful meeting, and we couldn't have a successful meeting if we ignored the balanced package we have already agreed upon in 1995."
Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Washington-based Arms Control Association, said the impasse was the result of US insistence that the conference ignore the 1995 and the 2000 treaty reviews and their decisions on disarmament steps, and the insistence of the 116 developing countries in the Nonaligned Movement that the current meeting review and assess progress on past commitments.
Brazilian diplomat Sergio de Queiroz Duarte, president of the month-long review conference, said the solution to the agenda dispute "accommodates the interest of all delegations, including that of Egypt."
Delegates were to meet yesterday to try to resolve the other key procedural issue -- allocating items on the agenda to three main committees and determining how the committees will organize their work, he said.
With just over two weeks left for the conference, Duarte said there was still time to reach an agreement that would reinforce the treaty "in all its aspects" if delegates help.
But others are pessimistic, pointing to the lengthy dispute over the agenda language as a reflection of the deep divisions on the treaty itself.
The Nonproliferation Treaty went into effect in 1970. North Korea withdrew in 2003. Three countries have refused to join -- India, Pakistan and Israel.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
RSS