Nuclear proliferation in the Middle East – GA debate – Press release (excerpts)

GENERAL ASSEMBLY CALLS FOR STRICT COMPLIANCE WITH 1972 ABM TREATY,

AS IT ADOPTS 51 DISARMAMENT, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY TEXTS

The General Assembly this afternoon called for renewed efforts by the States parties  to the 1972 Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Systems – Russian  Federation and United States – to preserve and strengthen it through full and strict compliance, by the terms of one of 47 resolutions and four decisions adopted on the recommendation  of its First Committee (Disarmament and International Security).

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By a vote of 111 in favour to 13 against, with 39 abstentions, the Assembly adopted, for the second time, a resolution entitled, "Towards a nuclear-weapon-free world: the need  for a new agenda".  It called for the examination of ways and means to diminish the role of  nuclear weapons in security policies, so as to enhance strategic stability, facilitate the process of the elimination of those weapons, and contribute to international confidence and security (Annex XIV).

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By a vote of 147 in favour to 2 against (France, India), with 10 abstentions (Bhutan, Cuba, Cyprus, Israel, Mauritius, Micronesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, United Kingdom, United States), the Committee retained operative paragraph 3 as a whole, which calls upon States to consider all relevant proposals for the  establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones, including  in the Middle East and South Asia (Annex XX).

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Another text on the Middle East, adopted by a vote of 149 in favour to 3 against  (Israel, Federated States of Micronesia, United States), with 9 abstentions (Belarus, Cameroon, Canada, Kenya, India, Marshall Islands, Norway, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago), had the Assembly call upon the only State in the region that was not party to the NPT to  accede to the Treaty without further delay and not to  develop, produce, test or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons  (Annex XXXII).

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The resolution contained in the  report on the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East  (document A/54/560) was adopted without a vote.

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