Alatas joins final phase of NPT debate
Alatas joins final phase of NPT debate
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas leaves Jakarta for New York this evening to attend the decisive final week of the Review Conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) at the United Nations headquarters.
Indonesia, as chairman of the 112-member Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), recently hosted a NAM ministerial meeting in Bandung, West Java, which produced a consensus seven-point statement on nuclear proliferation.
The foreign ministry's Director of Information, Irawan Abidin, said yesterday that Alatas would be taking the results of the NAM meeting to the NPT conference.
A month long review of the treaty is currently underway in New York, with delegates deliberating on whether to permanently extend the treaty or by fixed periods.
Indonesia, along with other fellow NAM members such as Nigeria, has stated its objection towards an indefinite extension of the treaty, arguing that the nuclear weapon-owning countries have not sufficiently fulfilled their obligation to abolish nuclear weapons.
The Review Conference will end on May 12, at which time delegates will decide on the extension of the treaty.
Though NAM is divided on the question of indefinite extension, the movement's common stance on the elimination of nuclear weapons and the need for a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty may have considerable bearing in New York, especially since NAM represents about two-thirds of the treaty's signatories.
The United States is leading the charge for the adoption of an indefinite extension and has also lobbied Jakarta to support its position.
Though Alatas' main objective is to attend the treaty Conference, Irawan said there is a possibility that the minister might visit his American counterpart, Secretary of State Warren Christopher, in Washington.
Following his stay in Washington, Alatas will fly on Monday to Vancouver, Canada, to attend an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - Canada ministerial dialog.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
Alatas is scheduled to return to Indonesia on May 14.(mds)