Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty M. Natalegawa said here on Monday that with his government’s ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), it ” should prepare” other nations to follow in order for it to enter into force.
Natalegawa’s statement came as he was speaking to reporters after the official hand-over ceremony for Indonesia’s ratification of the treaty, which was followed by a meeting between the foreign minister and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Indonesia ratified the CTBT in December 2011, becoming the 156th country to do so.
“It is our hope and we will certainly work in that manner that Indonesia’s ratification of the CTBT will prepare others to do likewise,” he said.
Adopted by the UN General Assembly on Sept. 10, 1996, the CTBT bans all nuclear explosions in all environments, for military or civilian purposes. As it stands, the accord will enter into force 180 days after getting ratification from such countries as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and the United States.
“I hope it’s not one waiting for the other to do this step before hand because this is what we found ourselves before today,” he said. “Indonesia had waited for the nuclear weapon states to do step this before we proceed, but as I said before, we felt this time for waiting is over, it’s over.”
He added that he hoped the other annex to countries “can similarly see the benefit of ratifying this treaty.”
“Our work today, I sincerely believe is having a window of a sort in promoting disarmament and destruction of weapons of mass destruction and all of us must do our part in ensuring that we are part of the solution to these efforts.”
Xinhua