UN chief hails 50th anniversary of resolution on nuclear non-proliferation

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday welcomed the 50th anniversary of UN General Assembly Resolution 2028, a historic resolution that established the five principles for a Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in 1965.

In a statement issued here Thursday, the secretary-general called on member states to use this occasion to recommit themselves to a nuclear weapon-free world, to strengthening dialogue and finding common ground, and to devising a way forward for the sake of our collective security.

The NPT, which subsequently entered into force in 1970, remains the cornerstone of the non-proliferation regime and the only legally binding multilateral commitment to nuclear disarmament, the statement said.

Since then, the world has made remarkable gains in stemming the spread of nuclear weapons, reducing deployed nuclear arsenals and diminishing the role of nuclear weapons in national security strategies, said the statement. "However, while the international community shares the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons, it is divided over how to achieve it."

The NPT is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.

The treaty represents the only binding commitment in a multilateral treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear-weapon States.

On May 11, 1995, the treaty was extended indefinitely. A total of 190 parties have joined the treaty. Enditem