Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh delivered a statement at a meeting of
the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland, on February
26.
Following is the full text of his statement.
Mr. President,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Ambassadors, Permanent Representatives,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am privileged to address the Conference on Disarmament today. This
historic room has witnessed the signing of many peace agreements,
including the Geneva Accords on ending hostilities and restoring peace
in Indonesia in 1954. These peace agreements helped bring about
peace to many nations around the world.
On this occasion, I
would like to congratulate His Excellency, Ambassador Sujata Mehta,
Permanent Representative of India on his assumption of the
Presidency. I believe that the efforts made by Madam. President and
other participants will help break the deadlock for substantive
discussions.
Mr. President,
Since its first participation in the Conference’s meetings in 1983 and
its becoming full member of the Conference in 1996, Vietnam has
always attached great importance to the Conference on Disarmament as the
sole global forum responsible for the discussions and negotiations on
international disarmament treaties. It was right here that the most
important disarmament treaties came into being, such as the
Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Biological Weapons Convention, the
Chemical Weapons Convention, the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty, etc.
Given those achievements, the international community cannot help
expecting new breakthroughs in the Conference, which would contribute to
the strengthening of peace, security and stability in the world. In
this year 2013, there are many expectations:
1.
The Sixty-Seventh Session of the United Nations adopted two
resolutions providing for discussion mechanisms on topics of great
interest in CD in recent years, namely nuclear disarmament and the
Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty. Vietnam is of the views that these
discussions can contribute to the consolidation of broader consensus on
these issues. The Conference on Disarmament must play an important role
in this process.
2. The April Review
Conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention, a major success of the
Conference on Disarmament, provides us an opportunity to affirm the role
of the Conference on Disarmament in developing such treaties.
3. The Second Session of the Preparatory Committee of the
2015 NPT Review Conference scheduled in May 2013 in Geneva offers us
another opportunity to take stock of the implementation of the outcomes
of the 2010 Review Conference, while charting out the concrete goals
and actions for the 2015 Review Conference.
4.
The UNGA high-level meeting on nuclear disarmament scheduled in
September provides a good opportunity for states to discuss and manifest
their political will at high level in search for solutions to the
challenges in disarmament, particular in nuclear disarmament.
5. It is regrettable that the Conference on Nuclear
Weapons-Free Middle East could not take place as scheduled in 2012. It
is important that we should strive for an early convening of the
Conference, thus contributing to the joint efforts in the field of
disarmament.
It is imperative that we meet these
expectations. We need to redouble our efforts to overcome differences in
security priorities and approaches to disarmament of each country with a
view to reaching solutions to substantive issues and meeting the demand
of the international community. As was urged by UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-Moon in his message to our Conference earlier this year, we
cannot afford to waste another year.
Mr. President,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Once victimized by wars and still struggling to overcome their
consequences, Vietnam ’s consistent policy is to uphold peace, oppose
war and support all efforts for disarmament, especially the disarmament
of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, in accordance with
the UN Charter and international law.
Vietnam’s
commitments to peace and disarmament are clearly and consistently
manifested in its diverse bilateral relations with other UN members, as
well as in its concrete contributions at multilateral fora, regional and
international cooperation mechanisms, such as the South East Asian
Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (SEANWFZ), or at disarmament mechanisms
within regional and international forums, particularly the UN Security
Council, where Vietnam was a non-permanent member in 2008-2009. As a CD
member, Vietnam has acceded to or ratified all disarmament treaties
negotiated and adopted by the CD.
As an active
member of the CD and one of its Presidents in 2009, Vietnam always
gives full support and makes contributions to the work of the CD. We are
aware of the challenges facing the CD in reaffirming its role and
credibility, and share the common concern and interest of other members
long deadlock. Failure to overcome this will erode the international
community’s confidence and the cooperation good will of countries within
the CD and in the domain of disarmament at large.
I
am pleased that the CD has approved its agenda for 2013, and believe
that an early endorsement and implementation of a balanced and
comprehensive programme of work is the only way to break the deadlock.
To this end, the CD members are called upon to display more good will,
greater flexibility and constructive cooperation to work out a solution
that may satisfy the interests of all stakeholders, while maintaining
and promoting the fundamental principles that made the CD’s successes
over the past decades, including the principle of consensus.
[Currently, the CD consists of 67 members representing almost all
regions and groups of countries with diverse levels of development. In
addition, there has been increasing interest from and active engagement
of non-member states as reflected in the expanding number of observes.
Therefore, CD’s membership enlargement is an emerging issue that is
becoming inevitable. However, as all efforts are currently focused on
overcoming the CD’s deadlock and reasserting its role and status, we
need to thoroughly discuss and consider the enlargement’s impact on the
work of the CD, while respecting the legitimate desire of the candidate
countries.
Mr. President,
In
conclusion, I wish to reiterate the strong commitments of the
Government of Vietnam to supporting all efforts for general and complete
disarmament. Vietnam stands ready to collaborate with all member
states to work out a solution helping the CD produce positive results.
We welcome and will actively engage in the deliberations for initiatives
aimed to promote the CD’s work.
Thank you.-VNA