Bangladesh urges faster nuclear disarmament

Bangladesh has called for accelerated global action on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, urging nuclear-weapon states to honour their commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Bangladesh made the call at the 11th Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York yesterday (28 April), according to an official handout received today (29 April).

Speaking at the general debate, Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Salahuddin Noman Chowdhury, said that despite eight decades of the UN, the vision of a world free of nuclear weapons remains unrealised.

He warned that continued nuclear proliferation poses a grave threat to international peace and security and also undermines global development aspirations.

Highlighting Bangladesh’s principled stance, the envoy said the country has consistently advocated both nuclear and conventional disarmament and has voluntarily remained non-nuclear despite being situated in a nuclear-armed region.

He urged nuclear-weapon states to fulfil their legal obligations under Article VI of the NPT and called for the universalisation of disarmament treaties.

The ambassador also reiterated Bangladesh’s commitment to promoting global disarmament through dialogue, confidence-building, and collective action towards a safer world free from nuclear threats.