Kazakhstan and Japan urged the remaining 8 countries to sign and ratify the CTBT “without a delay”

Almaty. April 4. Silkroadnews - Kazakhstan and Japan have called eight countries, whose ratifications are required for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) to come into force, to sign and ratify the treaty without further delay. The statement of Kazakhstan and Japan to achieve the treaty’s early entry into force has been published at Akorda website.

“The statement has been made in the framework of the Nuclear Security Summit held in Washington. In the document the sides reaffirmed their commitment to realize a world free of nuclear weapons,” the statement said.
Thus, according to the statement, Kazakhstan and Japan have reaffirmed their commitment to build a world free of nuclear weapons and believe that this shall be the main goal of humanity in the 21st century.

“As this year marks the 20th anniversary since the opening for signature of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the 25th anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in Kazakhstan, we renew our resolve to extend the non-use record of nuclear weapons until they are eliminated, and renew our strong commitment to achieving the early entry into force of the CTBT,” the statement says.

Parties welcome that today “the treaty has achieved near universal adherence” and urged all the states that have not yet done so to sign and ratify the Treaty “as early as possible”.

“In particular, we urge the remaining eight Annex 2 states, whose ratification is necessary for the entry into force of the CTBT, to sign and ratify the Treaty without further delay and without waiting for others,” the statement says.

“Pending the entry into force of the CTBT, we call upon all states to continue the moratorium on nuclear weapon test explosions, the process on which the closure of the Semipalatinsk test site in August 1991 had positive impact,” the document says.

The parties noted they condemned the nuclear tests North Korea conducted in 2006, 2009, 2013 and 2016 in clear violation of its international obligations and urged North Korea to refrain from conducting further nuclear tests.

“We strongly urge North Korea to fully comply with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions including the most recent resolution (UNSC/RES/2270) and the Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks issued on September 19, 2005, and to take concrete steps towards denuclearization,” the text stated.

Noting that the international monitoring system of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization has detected unusual seismic waveforms immediately after the nuclear test by North Korea on January 6, 2016, the parties note that “the CTBT verification regime has proven to be functioning successfully and reaffirm our commitment to supporting this important regime”.

Earlier the mass-media informed for the CTBT to enter into force it shall be ratified by 44 states listed in Annex 2 to the Treaty. Of these, now the CTBT has been ratified by 36 states, including the three states with nuclear weapons - Russia, Britain and France. Among the remaining 8 countries - India, Pakistan and North Korea have not signed the contract, the United States, China, Egypt, Israel and Iran have signed but not ratified the treaty.