State of Kuwait Participates in the Ministerial Meeting of Friends of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
New York, September 22 (KUNA) -- Kuwait’s Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for International Organizations Affairs, Ambassador Sadiq Ma’arfi, participated today, Tuesday, in the 12th Ministerial Meeting of the Friends of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), held on the sidelines of the high-level week of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York. The meeting was co-chaired by Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, and attended by UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu, along with several ministers and senior officials.
The meeting addressed international efforts to enhance the universality of the CTBT, advance its entry into force, and reaffirm its pivotal role within the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation architecture. It also emphasized the importance of maintaining the voluntary moratorium on nuclear testing and strengthening the treaty’s international verification and monitoring system.
The gathering highlighted the significant decline in the number of nuclear tests since the treaty opened for signature in 1996, noting that the CTBT and the commitment to a voluntary test moratorium have helped consolidate an international norm against such tests. Participants stressed the need to sustain this momentum and work toward the treaty’s entry into force.
The meeting welcomed Tonga’s accession to the CTBT as the latest state to sign and ratify it, bringing the number of signatories to 188 and ratifications to 179, a step that strengthens efforts to achieve the treaty’s universality. Participants underscored the importance of continuing political and diplomatic efforts to encourage states that have not yet ratified the treaty, particularly those listed in Annex 2 whose ratification is a prerequisite for the treaty’s entry into force, to take the necessary steps in this regard.
Kuwait was among the first countries to sign and ratify the CTBT when it opened for signature in 1996, and has since continued to support international efforts to achieve its objectives. Kuwait hosts the Radon-40 (RN40) radionuclide monitoring station of the CTBT’s International Monitoring System, located at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research. It is the only station of its kind in the Middle East and forms part of the international verification system aimed at detecting and identifying any nuclear tests. (End) A.S.T. / M.A.A.
