DHAKA: Bangladesh has signed the nuclear disarmament treaty outlawing nuclear weapons at the 72nd United Nations General Assembly in New York. The UN had adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in July this year. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina signed it last week from the first group amongst the UN member states.
Bangladesh favoured the total elimination of nuclear weapons to ensure full stoppage of its uses, said Ambassador Masud Bin Momen, Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the UN, in a statement. He said the UN marked the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on September 26 at the high-level plenary session at the UN Headquarters. At a high-level meeting on disarmament of nuclear weapons in September 2013, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had said: “Bangladesh believes that Nuclear Weapons cannot ensure ultimate security and peace. “This can only be ensured only by empowering people through education, socioeconomic progress and democratic values.” The treaty was adopted on July 7 by a vote of 122 in favour to one against (Netherlands), with one abstention (Singapore), prohibiting a full range of nuclear-weapon-related activities, such as undertaking to develop, test, produce, manufacture, acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, as well as the use or threat of use of these weapons. However, nuclear-weapon states including the United States, Russia and other nuclear-weapon States, as well as many of their allies, stayed out of the negotiations.The United States, United Kingdom and France later issued a joint statement saying they did not intend to sign, ratify or ever become party to the treaty.
