Encouraging Disarmament, Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno: Without Firm Real Action, a Nuclear Disaster is Only a Matter of Time

Foreign Minister Retno at a meeting to discuss nuclear weapons. (Source: Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

JAKARTA - Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi urged countries to take real action to promote nuclear disarmament, while attending the 'Conference on Disarmament' meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday.

"Without real firm action, a nuclear disaster is only a matter of time, and this risk is getting bigger as the rivalry between the big powers sharpens," said the Foreign Minister, in a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tuesday, February 28.

Furthermore, it is said that efforts to nuclear disarmament have stagnated for more than a quarter of a century due to the lack of political will, the complexity of the global security situation, and the mentality of the Cold War.

In order to encourage progress on nuclear disarmament, the Foreign Minister conveyed three things that needed to be done.

First, revive political will. She explained, there must be real action taken to achieve nuclear disarmament. The main focus that needs to be pushed is the legally binding Negative Security Assurances (NSA).

According to her, the NSA is a guarantee that countries possessing nuclear weapons will not use or threaten the use of nuclear weapons, to countries that do not own nuclear weapons.

"This will be an incentive for countries that have complied with their obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, as well as increasing mutual trust between countries possessing and non- possessing nuclear weapons," said Foreign Minister Retno.

The second thing that needs to be done is to strengthen the architecture of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

This is done, among other things, through the universalization of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. She said, Indonesia is currently finalizing the ratification process, and expects other countries to ratify it soon.

In addition, the use of nuclear for peaceful purposes must be strictly guarded so that it is not diverted into weapons.

And third, Foreign Minister Retno assessed the need to facilitate compliance with a nuclear weapon-free zone. She explained that a nuclear weapon-free zone is an important element in efforts to achieve global nuclear disarmament.

"As Chair of ASEAN this year, Indonesia will continue to promote a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Southeast Asian region," said the Foreign Minister.

"This will be done by seeking the signing of the Nuclear Free Zone Protocol in Southeast Asia," concluded Foreign Minister Retno.