Nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation feature among the main priorities of Kazakhstan’s foreign policy. Our country has come a long way as a leader in nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation after being a one-time holder of the world´s fourth most powerful nuclear arsenal and the world´s second largest nuclear test site in Semipalatinsk.
During Kazakhstan’s Presidency of the United Nations Security Council in January 2018, our First President – Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev once again called upon all Member-States to build a world without nuclear weapons by 2045, the UN´s 100th Anniversary. Only nuclear disarmament and confidence-building measures, through the complete elimination of nuclear arsenals, can provide the only and absolute guarantees against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons.
The Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is the first multilateral and legally binding agreement to ban their development, stockpiling, testing and use, entered into force earlier this year. The Treaty, supported by 122 United Nations Member States, strengthens our collective hope for a world free of nuclear weapons.
A recurring resolution 73/57 entitled, “Universal Declaration on the Achievement of a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World”, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 5 December 2018 will tabled by Kazakhstan.
The early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty will remain a major objective for Kazakhstan. As one of the most affected by the harmful consequences of nuclear tests, our country is making great efforts to reach Global Zero. Our initiative to observe the International Day against Nuclear Tests annually on 29 August is effectively helping to rally the international community towards this goal.
Disarmament and non-proliferation are particularly significant in light of the recent regional political developments and upheavals that can pose a threat to nuclear security with the massive buildup of nuclear arsenals, we continue to witness.
Kazakhstan, together the International Atomic Energy Agency conducts significant ongoing projects within the IAEA Technical Cooperation Programme. One of the most important achievements in the sphere of peaceful uses of nuclear energy was the creation of the International Atomic Energy Agency Low-Enriched Uranium Bank on the territory of Kazakhstan
This year marks the 30th Anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk test site, one of the landmarks in the history of nuclear disarmament.
Consolidating practical measures, on uniting the efforts of nuclear-weapon-free zones towards building a world free of nuclear weapons, will be another priority task for Kazakhstan. Our country aims to provide the momentum for expanding nuclear-weapon-free zones on our planet.
Other priority areas for Kazakhstan are the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and preserving and ensuring the proper implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The work of the UNSC 1540 Committee has become very critical and Kazakhstan is actively engaged in fulfilling its important mandate.
Kazakhstan is improving its national export control system in the light of new trends. This will strengthen our capacity to prevent of WMD proliferation.
Kazakhstan will work with the UN to stem the proliferation of new sensitive technologies, hypersonic devices, cybercrime, weapons in outer space and artificial intelligence with their unprecedented lethal threats. It is necessary to be proactive to prepare ourselves to address such threats in a timely and effective manner.
At the seventy-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan H.E. Mr. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed to establish an International Agency for Biological Safety, which in its activities will be guided by the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention.
The proposal for an International Agency for Biological Safety is based on the Kazakh conviction that global modern threats, as exemplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, require a collective and collaborative approach – at the national, regional and international levels – for the safety of all humankind.
The legal basis for the establishment and operation of IABS is the 1972 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction (BWC).