Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

The First Committee of the UN General Assembly has adopted a draft resolution on Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty.

The First Committee of the UN General Assembly deals with disarmament and international security issues.

Nearly 60 countries, including the five officially declared nuclear weapon states - the U.K., China, Russia, the U.S. and France - have co-authored the draft resolution.

The first paragraph of the document reads as: "the UN welcomes the entry into force of the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty dated March 21, 2009."

The initiation of the Central Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone was put forth by Uzbek President Islam Karimov at the 48th session of the UN General Assembly in September 1993.

The nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia would be the first such zone established in the northern hemisphere. The treaty has become the first multilateral agreement with the participation of all five Central Asian states in the sphere of security.

Under the agreement, each party undertakes not to conduct research, develop, manufacture, accumulate stocks, or acquire, posses or control any nuclear weapon, or other nuclear explosive device in any form.

At the same time, the states possessing nuclear weapon should not use or threaten to use a nuclear weapon or other nuclear explosive device against any party to the treaty.

International experts claim that the practical implementation of Uzbekistan's initiative complies with the priority tasks to ensure regional security for the stable and sustainable development of all Central Asian countries and to strengthen the nuclear nonproliferation regime at the global level.