BANGLADESH EXPRESSES SUPPORT FOR SOUTH AFRICAN PROPOSAL ON NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT COMMITTEE AS CONFERENCE CONTINUES
Press Release
DCF/321
BANGLADESH EXPRESSES SUPPORT FOR SOUTH AFRICAN PROPOSAL ON NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT COMMITTEE AS CONFERENCE CONTINUES
19980128 (Reissued as received.)GENEVA, 27 January (UN Information Service) -- The Conference on Disarmament this morning heard a statement by Bangladesh supporting the proposal made by South Africa at the opening session last week for the establishment of an ad-hoc committee on nuclear disarmament.
Bangladesh believed that when an idea was worthwhile, no a priori constraints should hinder its acceptance, its representative said. Such flexibility was essential for the achievement of progress. The scope of this proposal could satisfy the intentions of all sides, as it could comprise negotiations on a universal and legally binding multilateral agreement on the elimination of nuclear weapons as well as on a convention on the prohibition of the production of fissile materials.
Also this morning, Libya and Mauritius were admitted as observers to the Conference.
The next plenary meeting of the Conference will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 3 February.
Statement
Ifthekar Ahmed Chowdhury (Bangladesh) praised the recent South African proposal on establishing an ad-hoc committee on nuclear disarmament as the cut of the Gordian knot of an impasse. It was a "worthwhile idea" and therefore there should be no a priori constraints to its acceptance. Its scope could be adjusted to contain the aspirations of all sides. A universal and legally binding multilateral agreement, committed to the total elimination of nuclear weapons, could be taken up, as well as a convention on the prohibition of the production of fissile materials. Furthermore, by addressing all aspects of nuclear disarmament under one committee, integral elements of nuclear disarmament would be addressed in the context of the whole issue.
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With regard to nuclear disarmament, he noted that there are two extreme views. One is that it is best pursued bilaterally or plurilaterally, with the aim of achieving higher levels of security with lower levels of weaponry. The other is that, for the purpose of these negotiations, all heads together are better than either two or several. The ideal solution probably lay somewhere in between and the intellectual challenge was to identify where.
He stressed that the number of countries who have the capacity, and the capability to weaponize, exceed the number of those who actually possess such weapons. Therefore, Bangladesh considered that true disarmament meant not only reduction in numbers, but also cuts in capability. Making possession a criterion for participation in such key negotiations might actually encourage the acquisition of nuclear capability.
For Bangladesh, disarmament was an essential complement to development, he said. The country showed its readiness to be part of all stages towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons. It was in that spirit that Bangladesh became a party of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and signatory of the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty.
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