Kuwait to continue contributing to UN disarmament efforts
NEW YORK: Kuwait has renewed its firm commitment to contributing to the UN disarmament drive as a means of international peace and security. In his address to the meeting of the UN General Assembly’s First Committee Disarmament and International Security, Second Secretary of Kuwait Mission to the UN Abdulaziz Ammash Al-Ajmy said the country’s constant support to the committee is in keeping with the principles of the UN Charter and the noble message of the UN. The international peace and security are unlikely to be maintained under the prevalence of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, he said, noting that the existence of the minimum quantity of such weapons put all life on earth in jeopardy.
The Kuwaiti envoy underscored the importance of the implementation of the international disarmament conventions, foremost among which is the NonProliferation Treaty (NPT) and urged the UN members which have yet to join these conventions to do so without delay. The NPT constitutes the backbone of multilateral denuclearization action and the efforts to maintain the world’s peace and security, Al-Ajmy stressed. Meanwhile, he highlighted the unequivocal right of states to acquire peaceful nuclear technology in keeping with the NPT provisions and under the safeguards set forth by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Al-Ajmy also underscored the significance of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), and the Comprehensive NuclearTest-Ban Treaty (CTBT).
However, he said the limbo in the UN disarmament drive resulted from the lack of political will of some member states. He called on the UN and all its member states to find more effective mechanisms for tackling the new challenges in this regard. He welcomed the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 to endorse the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which was struck by Iran and the P5+1 group in Vienna on 14 July 2015. The First Committee works in close cooperation with the United Nations Disarmament Commission and the Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament; it is the only Main Committee of the General Assembly entitled to verbatim records coverage. — KUNA