Non-Proliferation Treaty extended 'indefinitely' at Review Conference: full compliance called essential to international peace and security.

Full compliance called essential to international peace and security

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) "shall continue in force indefinitely", it was declared on 11 May at the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the NPT.

In a decision taken without a vote, participants in the four-week assemblage (17 April-12 May, New York) agreed that full compliance with the Treaty, its extension and universal adherence were essential to international peace and security and to the attainment of the "ultimate goals of the complete elimination of nuclear weapons and a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control".

Two other decisions - on strengthening the review process for the Treaty and on principles and objectives for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament - and a resolution calling for the establishment of an "effectively verifiable Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction" were also adopted without a vote.

Delegates from 175 States parties to the historic disarmament agreement - which aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology throughout the world - gathered at UN Headquarters in New York to comply with a requirement of the 1970 NPT, which called for a special meeting 25 years after its entry into force to consider extending the global pact.

The Conference was unable to agree on a final declaration on the review of the operation of the Treaty, despite extensive consultations and strenuous last-minute negotiations which delayed the closing meeting.

Conference President Jayantha Dhanapala of Sri Lanka believed that there had been "neither winners nor losers" at the forum, and only the Treaty had won. The 1995 Review Conference had undertaken a "vote of confidence in the only disarmament agreement that has almost universal adherence", he said in his closing statement on 12 May. All parties should consolidate and implement its decisions.

The Treaty had been rendered permanent, Mr. Dhanapala went on, and a framework to strengthen its regime, with a sharper focus in future review conferences, had been established. Also, NPT objectives had been strengthened and an "historic agreement, not only on the extension of the Treaty but on the need for universality and strengthened review mechanisms", had been achieved, he stated.

Non-proliferation and disarmament must be pursued together, and the Conference had encapsulated that sentiment, providing a "framework with which to translate it into reality", the President concluded.

In his opening address on 17 April, Mr. Dhanapala had said that action to extend the NPT should be seen as a "consolidation of gains on the road to outlawing the most horrendous weapons ever invented". Chemical, biological and other inhumane weapons had not been disinvested, but declared illegal, he...