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The 2005 Review Conference of the Parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) concluded on Friday without reaching any consensus recommendation to ease the mounting nuclear tension in the world.
"I regret that the conference has not been able to reach consensus and unable to record any recommendations," conference president Sergio Duarte of Brazil told a plenary session in the final day.
More than 180 nations participated in the month-long conference, which opened on May 2 at UN headquarters in New York. However, they failed to reach agreement in three committees that cover the so-called three pillars of the treaty, namely disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation and peaceful use of atomic energy.
Actually, the UN sponsored conference was surrounded with pessimistic atmosphere from the very beginning in wrangling over the agenda and allocation of work among committees. It is after almost two weeks of quarrel the conference adopted an agenda on May 11, which enabled them to go on with their work.
The core bargain of the NPT is that nuclear-armed states, such as the United States and Russia, agrees to eventually eliminate their nuclear arsenals while states without nuclear weapons pledge not to pursue them.
Many non-weapon states required at this conference a proper balance in the implementation of its three pillars, as well as equality in the fulfillment of obligations and rights of the treaty.
Nevertheless, the past weeks witnessed severely divisive debate over issues ranging from US nuclear policy, Iran's uranium centrifuges, to Israel's nuclear capabilities.
The United States resisted being bound by a 13-step disarmament program outlined in 2000, while Iran objected to proposed language singling it out as a proliferation, and Egypt insisted on sanctioning Israel for not declaring its alleged atomic weapons and not joining the NPT.
In fact, the three committees were caught in a crossfire of interests, and failed to reach consensus on action programs to send to the conference.
"It would be very difficult for me in the face of so many divergencies, wide differences," Duarte told reporters at a press conference.
The United States was accused of reneging on those commitments it and other weapons states made at the 1995 and 2000 conference, and undermining the balance of nonproliferation and disarmament obligations in the treaty.
Malaysian ambassador Rastam Mohd Isa, speaking on behalf of nonaligned nations, pointed out that "it is now clear that divergent views among states parties on fundamental questions could not be bridged."
The NPT is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.
Opened for signature in 1968, the Treaty entered into force in 1970. Since its entry into force, the NPT has been the cornerstone of global nuclear non-proliferation regime.
Adherence to the Treaty by 187 states of the 191 UN member states, including the five nuclear-weapon states, renders the Treaty the most widely adhered to multilateral disarmament agreement. India, Israel and Pakistan have chosen not to join the Treaty. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea announced its withdrawal from the Treaty in January, 2003.
(Xinhua News Agency May 28, 2005)
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