Eight governments issue nuclear declaration
An initiative on nuclear disarmament was launched jointly on June 9 by the governments of Brazil, Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Slovenia, South Africa and Sweden.
The joint declaration, titled "Towards a nuclear weapons-free world: the need for a new agenda", has been submitted as a resolution to the United Nations General Assembly.
Although the declaration refers to the recent Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests, it appears motivated primarily by the failure of the "official" nuclear weapons states to make progress on negotiating nuclear disarmament (which they are committed to do by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty).
The key passages of the declaration read:
"The vast majority of the membership of the United Nations has entered into legally binding commitments not to receive, manufacture or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. These undertakings have been made in the context of the corresponding legally binding commitments by the nuclear-weapon States to the pursuit of nuclear disarmament. We are deeply concerned at the persistent reluctance of the nuclear-weapon States to approach their Treaty obligations as an urgent commitment to the total elimination of their nuclear weapons.
"In this connection we recall the unanimous conclusion of the International Court of Justice in its 1996 Advisory Opinion that there exists an obligation to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control ...
"We therefore call on the governments of each of the nuclear-weapon States and the three nuclear-weapons-capable States [i.e., India, Pakistan and Israel] to commit themselves unequivocally to the elimination of their respective nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons capability and to agree to start work immediately on the practical steps and negotiations required for its achievement."
Pending agreement on complete nuclear disarmament, the declaration says, "Legally binding instruments should be developed with respect to a joint no-first-use undertaking between the nuclear-weapon States and as regards non-use or threat of use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon States."