At a Special Session called on the request of New Zealand at the United Nations Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, South Africa today joined 46 of the Member and Observer States of the 61 Member Conference by associating itself with a joint statement expressing alarm and deep concern at nuclear testing by India and Pakistan. The statement condemns all nuclear testing and calls on India and Pakistan to immediately abandon the current course of action they are pursuing and to settle their security concerns and differences through political engagement.
South Africa's Representative to the Conference on Disarmament (CD), Ambassador J S Selebi, also made a separate statement emphasizing that recent developments made it more than imperative that the Conference on Disarmament should now actively and with determination address the issue of nuclear disarmament and the re-emergence of a nuclear arms race. He reiterated that it was the South African Government's view that this should be done through the establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee for nuclear disarmament in the CD on the lines of the mandate submitted by South Africa to the Conference in January 1998 and which would signal the importance which CD attaches to the issue.
Ambassador Selebi concluded his address by stating that with the recent developments "it cannot remain business as usual. To the Nuclear Weapons States, I say, if there was ever a wake-up call, it is now".
ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN PERMANENT MISSION TO THE UN IN GENEVA 2 JUNE 1998
BACKGROUND
The Conference on Disarmament (CD) is the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community and has the primary role in substantive negotiations on priority questions of disarmament. South Africa along with 22 other States became new Members of an expanded CD on 17 June 1996 after a complicated deal brokered by South Africa.
The content of the following addresses are attached as background:
1. South African statement by Ambassador Selebi at CD on 2 June 1998.
Mr President The developments in South Asia and the nuclear test explosions conducted by India and Pakistan have signalled the recommencement of the nuclear arms race, which the international community had hoped had been consigned to the past with the end of the Cold war.
The South Afgrican Government believes that these developments have made it even more imperative that the Conference on Disarament in Geneva should now actively and with determination address the issue of nuclear disarmament and the re-emergence of a nuclear arms race.
It is my Government's view that this should be done through the establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee for nuclear disarament in the CD which would signal the importance which this Conference attaches to the issue.
The South African delegation submitted a mandate for the establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee for nuclear disarmament at the first meeting of our 1998 Session which reads.
"The Conference on Disarmament decides to establish an Ad Hoc Committee on Nuclear Disarmament to deliberate upon practical steps for systematic and progressive efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons as well as to identify if and when one or more such steps should be the subject of negotiations in the Conference.
In discharging its function, the Ad Hoc Committee will take into account existing proposals and views, as well as future initiatives on nuclear disarmament."
South African is convinced that this mandate is now even more appropriate given the developments in South Africa, and that the Conference must seek to deliberate upon the practical steps required for systematic and progressive efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons, identifying if and when one or more such steps should be the subject of negotiations in the CD, as a matter of urgency.
Consequently, we call on you, Mr President, to actively and without delay pursue the establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee on nuclear disarmament in the consultations which were assigned to you in decision DC/1501 and on the basis of the statement contained in CD/1500, both of which were adopted on 26 March 1998. The international community is looking to this Conference, and to you as its President, to take concrete action to address this most serious issue. With the recent developments which are the focus of this debate, Mr President, it cannot remain business as usual.
To the Nuclear Weapons States, I say, if there was ever a wake-up call, it is now.
Mr President,
My Government also believes that the negotiations on a comprehensive fissile material cut-off treaty (FMCT) in this body should not be delay any further. Mr President
South Africa has associated itself with the joint statement on the the nuclear tests conducted by India and Pakistan read by the distinguished Ambassador of New Zealand today. We have associated ourselves to the statement despite the fact that it does not in our view adequately address and emphasise the importance of nuclear disarmament which has become even more critical given the recent developments which can only be seen as a setback to our common goal of the elimination of nuclear weapons. Mr President, I thank you.
2. Joint statement on Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests by 47 countries at CD on 2 June 1998. JOINT STATEMENT
(read by Ambassador of New Zealand to the Conference on Disarmament on 2 June 1998)
Mr President,
First may I take the opportunity to congratulate you on assuming the Presidency. It is good to see you in the Chair and you can rely on the full support of my delegation.
Mr President
I am taking the floor at this Special Session to read into the record a statement from the following Member States and Observers of the Conference: Australia, Belgium, New Zealand, USA, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Austria, Finland, Ukraine, Canada, Greece, Slovakia, Hungary, Sweden, Belarus, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Norway, Philippines, Denmark, Italy, Romania, Croatia, Czech Republic, Khazakstan, Japan, Malta, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Mongolia, Russian Federation, Republic of Korea, France, China, Turkey, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Chile, Ireland, Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina, Portugal, Slovenia.
Mr President
They are alarmed and deeply concerned at nuclear testing by India and Pakistan.
They condemn all nuclear testing and consider such acts to be contrary to the international consensus which bans the testing of nuclear weapons and other explosive devices.
The tests undertaken by India and Pakistan's decision to response with its own tests, blatantly undermine the international regime of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. The actions of India and Pakistan threaten and undermine the process of disarmament and the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons altogether.
The testing of nuclear weapons by India and Pakistan is totally irreconcilable with claims by both the countries that they are committed to nuclear disarmament.
International security will not be enhanced by provocative and dangerous acts. Nor will regional or global security be improved or maintained by indulging in competitive manoeuvres to further develop nuclear capability and delivery systems. The approach that India and Pakistan seem determined to pursue belongs to a by-gone age.
Peace in the Asia region is a global concern. Tensions will only be resolve permanently through constructive dialogue and negotiation.
It is now crucial that India and Pakistan announce immediately a cessation to all further testing of these weapons, renounce their nuclear weapons programmes and sign and ratify, unconditionally the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. This is a matter of urgency and essential for generating the confidence necessary for security differences to be resolved through dialogue and negotiation.
We also call on India and Pakistan to accede, without delay, to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, to join all States in ensuring the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and to engage in negotiations to conclude a ban on the production of fissile material. These are further essential steps that should be taken in the process of working collectively and constructively towards the elimination of nuclear weapons.
This is a moment for all countries to exercise calm and maximum restraint. We call on India and Pakistan to abandon immediately the course of action they are pursuing and to settle their security concerns and differences through political engagement. Such an approach will have the full support of the international community which is striving towards nuclear disarmament.