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Indonesia to ratify nuclear test ban treaty
Indonesia will ratify a nuclear test ban treaty soon, says the foreign minister, after previously deciding to hold off on ratification until the US made the first move
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I
ndonesia will ratify a nuclear test ban treaty soon, says the foreign minister, after previously deciding to hold off on ratification until the US made the first move.
Marty Natalegawa told the House of Representatives on Thursday that he would officially announced the ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) during the Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference in New York next month. “We have been holding off the ratification process since 2002 as we expected the US and other nuclear weapon states to ratify first,” Marty told Commission I overseeing foreign and defense affairs. “However, we decided there was no point in delaying it. We do not want our policy to be steered by the US’ decisions. We can move it forward with a note that there must be a move to push the US to ratify.
The US needs a template it can take as an example when dealing with the senate on ratification.”
Besides the US, other nuclear weapon states that have not ratified the treaty are China and Israel. The US has the most nuclear arsenals after Russia. Indonesia has no nuclear weapons but it possessed nuclear reactors and became part of the 182 signatories. The treaty will enter into force once the nine countries that have not either signed or ratified have give full accession.
Marty will lead the Indonesian delegation in the New York NPT review, which will take place from May 3-28.
He said Jakarta sought to contribute to the success of the three pillars of the NPT: Non-proliferation, disarmament and nuclear for peace purposes.
Experts have said the success of the NPT review was crucial for Jakarta as it sought to build nuclear power plants. Signatories of the NPT have rights to develop civilian nuclear facilities, but the impasse in the Iranian nuclear negotiations have cast a weary eye on nations seeking to develop nuclear facilities.
