Mr. Coordinator,
Sri Lanka appreciates your leadership in guiding the informal consultations in this Subsidiary Body in a manner where all States could profoundly discuss the related issues on the cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament.
As the recent global security challenges continue to highlight the risk of use or threat to use nuclear weapons, establishment of a robust legal framework through multilateral discussion remains our most promising pathway toward complete nuclear disarmament.
The Conference on Disarmament, as the sole multilateral negotiating forum available in this regard, bears a special responsibility in advancing the legal framework for nuclear disarmament. While we acknowledge the challenges faced by this body in recent decades, Sri Lanka remains convinced of its indispensable role and potential.
Sri Lanka views various disarmament treaties not as competing instruments but as complementary frameworks that ultimately strengthen the legal architecture for nuclear disarmament.
Among them, the provision for prohibition of nuclear weapons established by the TPNW represents a crucial step toward their elimination. By explicitly prohibiting States Parties from developing, testing, producing, manufacturing, acquiring, possessing, or stockpiling nuclear weapons, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) establishes comprehensive legal barriers against nuclear weapons. Further, its prohibitions against transferring, receiving, using, or threatening to use nuclear weapons further strengthen the international norm against nuclear weapons. The NPT, CTBT, and other related instruments each address specific aspects of the nuclear disarmament process, from testing to manufacturing to use, creating a comprehensive framework towards the ultimate goal of their total elimination.
When discussing the legal framework to advance the process of nuclear disarmament, Sri Lanka believes that the complementarity between existing legal instruments must be recognized and leveraged more effectively.
While noting the growing nuclear risks which demands urgent attention and action, Sri Lanka wishes to emphasize several key points:
1. Universalization of Existing Instruments
While recalling its recent accession to the Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), and ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), Sri Lanka calls for the promotion of universal adherence to existing disarmament treaties, including the TPNW and CTBT. Sri Lanka has consistently supported the UN General Assembly resolutions calling upon ‘all States that have not yet done so to sign, ratify, accept, approve or accede to the TPNW at the earliest possible date’ 1 . Sri Lanka also wishes to encourage all States, particularly those possessing nuclear weapons or those under nuclear security arrangements, to engage constructively with these Treaties and their humanitarian principles and objectives.
2. Humanitarian Consequences
We all need to be conscious that the use of any nuclear weapon is not merely a security issue but bears catastrophic humanitarian consequences. Thus, as responsible members of the international community we all need to ensure the world will never experience such devastative impact. It remains as our ultimate obligation for future generations.
3. Verification mechanism
Nuclear disarmament verification remains essential to building confidence and transparency in disarmament processes. Sri Lanka supports strengthening existing verification regimes and developing new technologies and approaches that can support effective monitoring of compliance with disarmament obligations.
4. Strengthening the Conference on Disarmament
We believe that breaking the institutional deadlock in the CD requires creative approaches and flexibility of all stakeholders. This institutional deadlock diminishes the effectiveness of the CD in addressing disarmament issues over the decades. The recent decision allowing Subsidiary Bodies to continue their work into 2025 offers a valuable opportunity to overcome these challenges and Sri Lanka stands ready to engage constructively in efforts to develop a balanced and comprehensive program of work of the CD that addresses the priorities of all member states and advancing the legal framework necessary for achieving and maintaining a world free of nuclear weapons.
In conclusion, Sri Lanka calls upon all States to renew their commitment to multilateralism and to the development of legal frameworks that will facilitate verifiable and irreversible nuclear disarmament.
Thank you
[1] UNGA Resolution 79/38 - Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons