Kazakhstan attends Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement

BAKU, October 24, 2019 — The delegation of Kazakhstan, headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Yerzhan Ashikbayev, participated in the meeting of foreign ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement member states in Baku.

When delivering his speech, Yerzhan Ashikbayev noted that Kazakhstan closed the Semipalatinsk Test Site and voluntarily abandoned the fourth largest nuclear arsenal in the world under the leadership of the First President — Leader of the Nation Nursultan Nazarbayev. He highlighted that achieving a world free of nuclear weapons continues to be the main priority of Kazakhstan and called on member states to join efforts in this area to ensure a more secure future.

The head of the Kazakh delegation added that the country also made its practical and tangible contribution to nuclear disarmament by creating a unique nuclear-weapon-free zone together with the four Central Asian countries, hosting the IAEA Low Enriched Uranium Bank and adopting a UN General Assembly resolution on International Day against Nuclear tests, as well as ratifying the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Touching upon the fight against terrorism, Y. Ashikbayev noted Kazakhstan’s initiative regarding the adoption of the Code of Conduct Toward Achieving a World Free of Terrorism, which is one of the ways to create a global counter-terrorism coalition, and expressed hope that the Movement’s member countries would join this document.

In addition, drawing the attention of participants to the need for a gradual transformation of the CICA into a full-fledged regional organization, Y. Ashikbayev added that Kazakhstan, as part of its chairmanship in the CICA in 2020, will direct efforts to deepen relations with other international organizations and multilateral institutions, including the Non-Aligned Movement.

At the end, the Deputy Minister informed the participants about the opening in May 2019 of the UN Center for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Almaty, whose activities will contribute to strengthening peace, stability and sustainable development of the entire region.

On the sidelines of the event, bilateral meetings of the head of the Kazakh delegation with the heads of delegations of Kenya A. Namwamba and Vietnam Nguyen Quoc Dung were also held, during which the current state and prospects of bilateral cooperation in various fields were discussed. The parties agreed to continue regular contacts and provide support on issues of mutual interest.