ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT EXPRESSES DISAPPOINTMENT OVER NUCLEAR TESTS CONDUCTED BY INDIA

Press Release
GA/SM/39

ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT EXPRESSES DISAPPOINTMENT OVER NUCLEAR TESTS CONDUCTED BY INDIA

The following statement was issued today by the spokesman for the President of the General Assembly, Hennadiy Udovenko:

The President of the General Assembly has learned with dismay and disappointment of a series of nuclear tests conducted by India on Monday and Wednesday. Over the past years, there have been encouraging signs in the field of nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament. With the virtual cessation of nuclear testing and the landmark conclusion of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), the international community has sent an unambiguous message as to the future course of nuclear non-proliferation.

Recognizing that there is a genuine need to de-emphasize the role of nuclear weapons, the General Assembly at its current session reaffirmed its commitment to the cause of creating a nuclear-weapon-free world and welcomed a number of recent steps -- unilateral, bilateral and multilateral -- taken by States towards promoting the regime of nuclear non-proliferation. Regrettably, the latest series of nuclear tests runs contrary to that positive trend. In that context, the President of the General Assembly would like to emphasize the need to maintain the momentum in international efforts to promote nuclear disarmament.

* *** *