Online Reporter
Herald Reporter
DEFENCE Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri has urged Nuclear-Weapon States to abandon competition and instead pursue collective security, warning that any nuclear conflict would bring catastrophic humanitarian and environmental consequences.
Speaking on Monday at the general debate of the 11th Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in New York, Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri told delegates that the NPT remained “the cornerstone of the global nuclear disarmament regime” and “the first line of defence against a nuclear catastrophe”.
She warned that efforts to enhance and modernise nuclear arsenals may strengthen offensive capabilities, but did not remove the reality of nuclear destruction. The minister implored Nuclear-Weapon States to move away from strategies driven by rivalry and instead strengthen mechanisms for cooperative security.
“The NPT is the cornerstone of the global nuclear disarmament regime and the first line of defence against a nuclear catastrophe,” said Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri.
“Only a balanced implementation of the NPT, across its three pillars of disarmament, non-proliferation and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, will deliver the benefits of the Grand Bargain that underpinned the adoption of the Treaty in 1968.
“Enhancing and modernising nuclear arsenals may enhance offensive capabilities, but it does not in any way eliminate the certainty of mutually assured destruction.
“Moreover, in the event of a nuclear war, catastrophic humanitarian and environmental repercussions would visit every corner of the world,” she said.
Zimbabwe, the minister said, implored Nuclear-Weapon States to move away from security competition and focus on pursuing collective security.
She said as a State Party to the Treaty of Pelindaba, which established the African continent as a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone, Zimbabwe calls on all regions that are yet to do so to conclude their Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone treaties. She urged all Nuclear-Weapon States to ratify those treaties without reservations, reiterating the global norm against nuclear testing and calling upon all remaining Annex 2 States to sign and ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
Nigeria’s Permanent Representative on behalf of the African group, Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim, said the African Group supports the principle of the total elimination of nuclear weapons as the utmost and essential prerequisite for maintaining international peace and security.
