UN chief urges ratification on nuclear test ban treaty

New York, Sept 24: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the nations which have not yet ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) to allow the treaty to come into action to make a nuclear free world.

Till now, nine countries - China, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Israel and the United States have not ratified the treaty. The treaty was adopted by the United Nation General Assembly on Sept 10, 1996 but it has not come in to force. The treaty will banned all nuclear explosions either for military or civilian purposes.

"Do not wait for others to move first. Take the initiative. And lead. The time for waiting has passed," Ban said during a meeting in New York on the margins of the UN General Assembly.

"That is why I urge all remaining states to sign and ratify the CTBT without further delay," he told an audience of foreign ministers from countries that are party to the treaty. Ban also said that he has been taking personal effort to ratify the treaty and "My name is spelled Ban, it is pronounced 'Bahn' but some people pronounce 'Ban.' Therefore my name has a very clear, firm determination".

The CTBT has been so far signed by 182 countries and ratified by 154 of them. India along with Pakistan and North Korea have not signed the treaty.

The complete implementation of CTBT would be "a major step forward for global security," said French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe.

Meanwhile, US' disapproval to ratify the treaty has been a major hurdle in implementing it. In April 2009, US President Barack Obama expressed hope when he said he would ask US Senate ratification of the CTBT, but Washington has since then put the treaty on hold.

"In five decades of nuclear testing we have seen more than 2,000 nuclear tests." said German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.

"The level of radiation set free by these tests has been many times higher than that set free by the nuclear power plant accidents of Chernobyl and Fukushima." he added.

The treaty will also protect the world from harmful radioactive elements that emerge from nuclear bomb tests.

OneIndia News