LookAtVietnam – At the UN on September 24, President Nguyen Minh Triet urged his peers to work diligently with Vietnam for nuclear disarmament.

President Nguyen Minh Triet (1st line, C) speaks at the UN Security Council summit in New York on Sept. 24. (Photo: VNA)

In his remarks, President Triet noted that the Vietnamese nation has suffered greatly from war. Its consistent policy is to protest against war, promote disarmament and seek to preserve peace for its people and all the people of the world.

Triet said Vietnam is signatory to all international treaties against weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and resolved to implement its commitments fully and seriously. Having created nuclear weapons, human beings, must now take full responsibility for eliminating them. Vietnam will do its utmost to help achieve nuclear disarmament, prevent nuclear war, and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons altogether.

The President also affirmed Vietnam’s support for initiatives on control and abolition of WMD, including Non-Aligned Movement proposals and a five-point proposal by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Nuclear disarmament “is an urgent demand and legitimate aspiration of mankind,” said the President. He asked international military alliances and all military powers, especially countries possessing nuclear weapons to make this quest their top priority.

“Vietnam shares the international community’s common view,” said Triet, “that bilateral and multilateral negotiations as well as initiatives by individual countries can lead to a huge reduction in nuclear arsenals. They can ensure security for non-nuclear countries against their possible use or the threat of their use.”

“Vietnam proposes that international negotiations on nuclear disarmament begin as soon as possible and that states with the biggest nuclear arsenals be in the vanguard of disarmament. It is an urgent necessity in the interests of securing world peace,” Triet urged.

The President called for more effective implementation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) – particularly to uphold the authority of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Turning to nuclear-free zones, Triet said these have made a practical contribution to nuclear non-proliferation efforts. He urged all states to back the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone proclaimed in 1997.

President Triet said that stronger use of nuclear energy for the purposes of peace is a firm support for the nuclear non-proliferation system. Thus “it is necessary to convene an international conference on the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, dealing with such issues as international coordination, measures to develop policies, science and technology and regulations on security and nuclear security.”

VietNamNet/VNA