Govt pushes anti-nuke pact move

Thailand moved one step closer to ratifying the Treaty on The Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons yesterday as the cabinet endorsed a recommendation to this end by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to a cabinet statement.

The treaty aims to complement the existing Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which has taken flak as it does not prohibit the use, production, development, procurement or possession of nuclear weapons, it said.

Under the new pact — the first multilateral legally-binding tool for nuclear disarmament negotiated in 20 years — signatory states must abstain from developing, testing, producing, procuring, possessing or stockpiling nuclear weapons. It will take effect 90 days after 50 member states have ratified it, according to the United Nations (UN) News Centre.

The treaty will be open for signatures next Wednesday during the UN’s 72nd General Assembly in New York.

On July 7, Thailand along with 122 other states endorsed a draft of the treaty during a United Nations conference aimed at the total elimination of nuclear weapons. Nuclear-weapon states and many of their allies did not attend.

The statement went on to say that international efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons have ground to a halt for several decades. The issue has divided the world, with some nations seeing them as a threat to humanity and others arguing they are essential for peace and security.

Thailand has been a party to many treaties on weapons of mass destruction such as the NPT, the Comprehensive NuclearTest-Ban Treaty, and the Treaty on the South East Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone. Nuclear weapons rank as the only weapon of mass destruction not banned by international law.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs aims to push Thailand’s role in promoting peace and security by being among the first 50 signatories, it said.

The National Security Council will be designated as the national coordinating centre.