First Committee recommends forty-eight disarmament related texts.

• Position: General Assembly 51

After the General Debate, the Main Committees of the General Assembly began their deliberations, recommending resolutions and decisions for the Assembly to consider in plenary. On 10 December, the Assembly - in expressing its conviction that the continuing existence of nuclear weapons posed a threat to all humanity," and their use would have "catastrophic consequences for all life on Earth" - underlined the unanimous conclusion of the International Court of Justice that there existed an "obligation to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control".

Acting on the recommendation of its First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), the Assembly, by resolution 51/45 M, also called upon all States to fulfil that obligation immediately and expressed appreciation to the Court for responding to its request, made in resolution 49/75 K of 15 December 1994, to render an advisory opinion on whether the threat or use of nuclear weapons is permitted in any circumstance under international law.

By resolution 51/45 O, the Assembly urged the nuclear-weapon States to "stop immediately the qualitative improvement, development and stockpiling of nuclear warheads and delivery systems", and to undertake the "step-by-step reduction of the nuclear threat and a phased programme of progressive and balanced deep reductions of nuclear weapons", with a view to their total elimination within a time-bound framework.

In other resolutions on nuclear disarmament, the Assembly called for the pursuit by nuclear-weapon States of"systematic and progressive efforts to reduce nuclear weapons globally" (51/45 G), and reiterated its request to the Conference on Disarmament to "commence negotiations, in order to reach agreement on an international convention prohibiting the use of nuclear weapons under any circumstances", and proposed a draft as a possible basis for that agreement (51/46 D).

Two texts, although they differed on the pace of nuclear disarmament and the recognition of existing agreements, dealt with bilateral nuclear-arms negotiations. Resolution 51/45 R encouraged the Russian Federation, the United States, Belarus, Kazakstan and Ukraine to continue cooperative efforts aimed at eliminating nuclear weapons and strategic offensive arms. Resolution 51/45 1 called upon the Russian Federation and the United States to "accord the highest priority" to their "work for deep reductions in their nuclear armaments".

Five texts were devoted to nuclear-weapon-free zones. In resolution 51/45 B, the Assembly called upon...