ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT SAYS NUCLEAR TESTS BY PAKISTAN 'A SERIOUS BLOW' TO GLOBAL NON-PROLIFERATION EFFORTS

28 May 1998

Press Release
GA/SM/42

ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT SAYS NUCLEAR TESTS BY PAKISTAN 'A SERIOUS BLOW' TO GLOBAL NON-PROLIFERATION EFFORTS

19980528 Appeals to India and Pakistan To Refrain From Continued Development of Their Nuclear Weapons

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

The President of the General Assembly is gravely concerned about the nuclear tests conducted on Thursday by Pakistan. Today's explosions have dealt a serious blow to global non-proliferation efforts, as they flew in the face of the international community that had overwhelmingly deplored a similar exercise earlier this month by India and had urged restraint by the two countries.

A number of positive developments in the field of nuclear disarmament over the past years have given hope that humanity would enter the new millennium, leaving behind the legacy of an unbridled nuclear arms race. The latest series of tests in South Asia threatens to dash those hopes and to further escalate tensions in an already volatile region. The President of the General Assembly appeals to both Governments to refrain from continued development of their nuclear weapons and urges them to pledge their prompt and full cooperation with the international community in averting further aggravation of the situation.

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