A group of 12 non-nuclear weapon states, including Japan, called Monday for closer cooperation and urgent arms control efforts ahead of a key conference on the global nuclear order, warning that rising security risks threaten decades of progress.
The Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative, launched in 2010 by Japan and Australia, issued a joint statement urging all parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to engage in constructive dialogue with a forward-looking approach.
The statement came ahead of the 11th NPT Review Conference, which will open in New York on 27 April and run for nearly a month, at what the group described as “one of the most critical junctures” for sustaining and advancing nuclear disarmament. The other NPDI members are Canada, Chile, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, the Philippines, Poland, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates. T
he NPDI countries said they remain committed to achieving the goal of a world without nuclear weapons, while warning of the growing risk of nuclear war just over 80 years after the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The group underscored the importance of the NPT as the cornerstone of global non-proliferation efforts, essential foundation for disarmament and basis for the development of peaceful uses of nuclear energy, stressing its credibility depends on the full and balanced implementation of those three pillars.
They also voiced concern over the expiration of the New START treaty between the United States and Russia in February, which leaves the world without legally binding and verifiable limits on their nuclear arsenals.
Calling for urgent action, the group urged nuclear weapon states to pursue new agreements that ensure “predictability, transparency, and restraint” and help prevent a renewed arms race.
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