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24/11/2000
The Assembly urged states to stem the spread of weapons of mass destruction, strengthen the Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems (ABM Treaty), engage the nuclear-weapon States in a process leading to the total elimination of nuclear weapons and take immediate and urgent steps to reduce the risk of the unintentional or accidental use of those weapons. Much can be gleaned from the countries that vote against or abstain on such resolutions. Some do so out of principle, others to please some other state for why else should Monaco or Mauritius - surely not planning any nuclear programmes of their own - have joined France, Russia, Bhutan and three other CIS republics in abstaining from the vote on 'Towards a nuclear-weapon-free world: the need for a new agenda.' Among its provisions this called for a diminishing role for nuclear weapons in security policies to minimize the risk that those weapons would ever be used. Indeed why should any country wish to vote against such an objective, so devoutly to be wished. Yet this is the one subject on which India and Pakistan who oppose each other on practically everything else, can agree on wholeheartedly. Let nothing stand in the way of their diversion of funds to develop capabilities of blowing each others poor, hungry and illiterate populations of the face of the earth. Israel also joined them in this sorry lobby. The vote on a draft calling for the promotion of nuclear-weapon-free southern hemisphere was just as illuminating. The Assembly took three separate votes on it. The text as a whole was adopted by 159 in favour to 4 against - Monaco again being a nuclear champion along with the NATO nuclear weapon states of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. India and Israel abstained along with Russia and Spain - and, for this after all is serious world politics, Andorra. Earlier the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had reminded the international community that the nuclear powers reportedly still had more than 30,000 nuclear weapons in their arsenals and warned that nuclear conflict still remained a "very real and very terrifying possibility," Speaking in New York at a conference on Violence and Human Survival he called on the international community to overcome its complacency. "We must rouse all nations, and especially the nuclear-power states, to do more towards the twin goals of disarmament and non-proliferation," he urged. "What
will it take to rouse global public opinion? A crisis? An accident?
Even an unintended conflict?" Mr. Annan asked. He noted that
the UN's agenda was replete with issues suffering from strange sort
of neglect a failure to attract notice despite the obvious advantage
of early action. Progress is possible, if we have the will to accomplish it, he concluded. Pakistan, India, Andorra, Israel - are you listening?
©EuropaWorld 2000 - Copyright Policy
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