IDANT 2021 - Joint Statement by Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan and CTBTO Executive Secretary

The following statement was issued by H.E. Mr. Mukhtar Tileuberdi, Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and Dr. Robert Floyd, Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO):

1.  On the occasion of the International Day against Nuclear Tests, unanimously proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly at the initiative of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, we reaffirm our commitment to realizing a world free of nuclear testing and renew our resolve to achieve the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).
    
2. 29 August is a symbolic date for Kazakhstan and the international community. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. This historic decision sent a strong political message and contributed to international efforts that led to the adoption of the CTBT in 1996. Since its adoption, Kazakhstan has consistently provided significant support for the CTBT and the build-up of its verification regime.
    
3. This year also marks the 25th anniversary of the opening for signature of the CTBT. As a key pillar of the nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime, the CTBT is an effective and practical measure to achieve a world without nuclear weapons. With 185 signatures and 170 ratifications, there has been much progress towards the universalization of the CTBT. Its verification regime is nearly complete. Although yet to become legally binding, adherence to the CTBT and the norm against nuclear testing has become virtually universal.
    
4. We note the upcoming 2021 Article XIV Conference and consider it an opportunity to renew the call for concrete and coordinated actions by all States to advance the entry into force of the CTBT.
    
5. We invite all States to attend the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly to commemorate and promote the International Day against Nuclear Tests at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, which will take place on 8 September 2021.
    
6. We call on all States to continue to observe the moratoria on nuclear explosions. We urge those States that have not yet signed and/or ratified the Treaty to do so without delay. We call on the eight remaining Annex 2 States, whose ratifications are required for entry into force of the CTBT, to demonstrate their commitment to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament by taking this important step in support of international peace and security.
    
7. We conclude that it is high time to bring the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty into force to advance nuclear disarmament and create a safer and more secure world for future generations.

 

The CTBT bans all nuclear explosions everywhere, by everyone, for all time. Adherence to the Treaty, which opened for signature on 24 September 1996, is nearly universal, but it has not yet entered into force. To do so it must be signed and ratified by all 44 States listed in the Treaty’s Annex 2, of which eight are still missing.

The CTBT’s unique verification regime includes an International Monitoring System (IMS) based on four key technologies - seismic, hydroacoustic, infrasound and radionuclide - to ensure that no nuclear explosion can go undetected. Currently, 302 certified facilities – of a total of 337 when complete – are operating around the world. The Article XIV Conference is a special mechanism within the CTBT, held every other year, to promote its entry into force. States that have ratified the Treaty commit themselves to promoting it at the highest political level and through all available bilateral and multilateral channels.

For more information see www.ctbto.org.

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