| USA Claims Russia Flouting Global Ban on Nuclear Testing Too By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) – Amid mounting signs of a new arms race unleashing between the United States and Russia, which together account for 93 percent of the nuclear weapons around the world, a top Trump Administration official has obliquely accused Russia of violating the global ban on nuclear tests enshrined in the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). [2019-05-29] Pakistan Tests Nuclear-Capable Ballistic Missile, Affirms Willingness for Dialogue with India By Ayaz Gul  This article first appeared on Voice of America on May 23, 2019.ISLAMABAD (IDN-INPS) – Pakistan says it has successfully conducted a “training launch” of a ballistic missile capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional warheads up to 1,500 kilometers.The move came amid Pakistan’s heightened military tensions with neighboring rival India, and it is seen by observers as part of the efforts Islamabad is making to keep pace with New Delhi’s massive investments in military hardware and advancements. [2019-05-24] Uncertainty over U.S.-Russian Arms Control Talks By Kingston Reif and Shervin Taheran  While Kingston Reif is Director for Disarmament and Threat Reduction Policy, Shervin Taheran is Research Assistant at the Arms Control Association, which carried this report on May 24, 2019.WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – Following a May 14 meeting in Sochi, Russia, with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters that the two countries “agreed that … we will gather together teams that will begin to work not only on [the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty] New START and its potential extension but on a broader range of arms control issues that each of our two nations have.” [2019-05-24] Door to North Korea Remains Open Despite Missile Tests By Alicia Sanders-Zakre and Kelsey Davenport  While Alicia Sanders-Zakre is research assistant, Kelsey Davenport, is director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association, which carried this report on May 21, 2019.WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – The next steps for U.S. diplomacy with North Korea remain unclear after Pyongyang tested several short-range ballistic missiles in early May.Despite the missile tests, South Korea and the United States urged a resumption of dialogue. [2019-05-22] The Blame Game Obstructs the Path to NPT 50th Anniversary Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf Tariq Rauf was Alternate Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) NPT Delegation 2002-2010, and has attended all NPT meetings as an official delegate since 1987 through 2019. Personal views are expressed here. Click here for his previous article.NEW YORK (IDN) – In addition to discord and divisions over nuclear disarmament, between the five nuclear-weapon States (NWS) parties, along with their allies, and most of the non-nuclear-weapon States, a contentious issue concerns the establishment of a zone free of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction in the region of the Middle East (MEWMDFZ). HINDI | ITALIAN | JAPANESE | Fiddling While the Nuclear Arms Control Architecture Collapses Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf The writer was Alternate Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) NPT Delegation 2002-2010, and has attended all NPT meetings as an official delegate since 1987 through 2019. Personal views are expressed hereNEW YORK (IDN) – The third and final session of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the 2020 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) fizzled out in disagreements over the pace and extent of nuclear disarmament at United Nations headquarters in New York. HINDI | ITALIAN | JAPANESE Nuclear Non-Proliferation Review Conference Could Hit a U.S. Roadblock By Shanta Roy NEW YORK (IDN) – The Trump Administration, which has been recklessly wielding a wrecking ball against multilateral treaties, will be put to a test next year when the 1970 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) will be up for review at the 2020 conference scheduled to take place in New York in April-May. CHINESE | JAPANESE | KOREAN | RUSSIAN Human Survival Lies in the Balance as the Charade of NPT Diplomacy is Wearing Thin Viewpoint by Dr Joseph Gerson* NEW YORK (IDN) – Expectations for the outcome of this year’s NPT Preparatory Committee were low at best. Not surprisingly, given the nuclear powers’ reliance on their genocidal and omnicidal arsenals and pressures building for nuclear weapons proliferation, these expectations were not exceeded. As the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has warned, humanity is now as close to nuclear apocalypse as it was at the height of the Cold War. [2019-05-17] Malaysian Diplomat Shows Courage on Way to Landmark NPT Review Conference Viewpoint by Ray Acheson This article first appeared as Editorial in NPT News in Review, Vol. 16, No. 7 on May 10, 2019. The writer is the Director of Reaching Critical Will – the disarmament programme of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). She represents WILPF on several coalition steering groups, including the 2017 Nobel Laureate International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). Ray is a 2018 UN Women Metro-NY “Champion of Change”. – The Editor [2019-05-14] Mayors for Peace Call for a Common Ground on the NPT By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – In anticipation of the review conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in 2020 at the United Nations, the Mayors for Peace have in a Joint Appeal called for finding a “common ground on the NPT”; because the global interest embodied in the NPT is in the national interests of all countries and all peoples worldwide. [2019-05-13] Experts Exhort Nuclear Deal Signatories to Help Iran By Jamshed Baruah NEW YORK (IDN) – The Arms Control Association (ACA), a Washington-based nonpartisan organization, has warned that Iran’s “threat to violate” the landmark 2015 nuclear deal is “a very worrisome but predictable response” to U.S. President Donald Trump’s “dangerous decision” to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) one year ago.The Washington-based organization said: “The Trump administration’s systematic campaign to deny Iran any benefits from the agreement has driven the leadership in Tehran to take these retaliatory steps.” [2019-05-08] Faith Communities Sound a Clarion Call for Elimination of Nuclear Weapons By Santo D. Banerjee NEW YORK (IDN) – Heed the voices of the world’s hibakusha, survivors of atomic bombings, by unequivocally recommitting to achieving a world without nuclear weapons, by supporting the signing and ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). [2019-05-04] JAPANESE Kazakhstan Calls for Rigorous Implementation of the NPT By Santo D. Banerjee NEW YORK (IDN) – Kazakhstan, an active supporter of nuclear disarmament and strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime, has reiterated its firm support for the strict and complete compliance by all parties of the provisions of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). [2019-05-03] UNODA Chief Focuses on Youth Engagement in Meeting with NGOs By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK (IDN) – The role of youth in promoting nuclear disarmament as envisaged in the UN Secretary-General’s Agenda for Disarmament, Securing Our Common Future, formed the focus of High Representative for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) Izumi Nakamitsu’s meeting with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) at the United Nations headquarters in New York on May 1. [2019-05-02] |
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