VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi attended the Disarmament Conference in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday (27/2).  At the meeting, she urged countries to take real actions to encourage nuclear disarmament. Without concrete actions, nuclear disaster is only a matter of time and risk grows as the rivalries among the great powers are intensifying.  Nuclear disarmament efforts have stalled for more than a quarter of a century due to a lack of political will, the complexity of the global security situation, and a lingering Cold War mentality.

To encourage progress on nuclear disarmament, Minister Retno Marsudi conveyed three points needed to be done. First, it’s a revive political will. There must be real actions taken to achieve nuclear disarmament.  The main focus that needs to be encouraged is Negative Security Assurances (NSA) bound legally.  NSA is a guarantee which states possessing nuclear weapons will not use or threaten the use of nuclear weapons against non- possessors of nuclear weapons. This will be an incentive for states that have complied with their obligations under Non-Proliferation Treaty and increasing mutual trust among countries possessing and non- possessing nuclear weapons.

Secondly, it is to strengthen the architecture of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. This is done through the universalization  of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Indonesia is currently finalizing the ratification process and expects other countries to ratify it soon.  Moreover, the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes must really be guarded so that it is not diverted into weapons.

Third,  it is to facilitate compliance with a nuclear weapons free zone. A nuclear weapons of free zone is an important element in a bid to achieve global nuclear disarmament. Moreover,  Minister Retno Marsudi also confirmed as Chair of ASEAN this year,  Indonesia will continuously advance a nuclear weapons of free zone in the Southeast Asian region.  This will be done by seeking the signing of the Nuclear Free Zone Protocol in Southeast Asia.