Statement on behalf of the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative (NPDI)

By Ambassador of Japan to the Conference on Disarmament, Toshio SANO,

At the First Committee of the 70th Session of the General Assembly

General Debate

October 9, 2015

New York

On behalf of member states of the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament

Initiative (NPDI), namely Australia, Canada, Chile, Germany, Japan, Mexico,

the Netherlands, Nigeria, the Philippines, Poland, Turkey and the United

Arab Emirates, I would like to express my heartfelt congratulations to you,

Ambassador van Oosterom, on your assumption of the chairmanship of the

First Committee of the 70th General Assembly. I assure you of the utmost

support of the NPDI for your leadership in making this Committee a success.

Mr. Chairman,

We, the members of the NPDI, renew our determination to achieve the

goal of a world free of nuclear weapons. To that end, we will continue to work

together on concrete and practical measures to advance both nuclear

disarmament and non-proliferation as mutually reinforcing processes.

We reaffirm our shared commitment to the NPT as the cornerstone of the

global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime and its

universalization remains a goal of the utmost importance. The NPDI is

determined to strengthen implementation of the Treaty across all three of its

pillars, namely, nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation and the

peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

While the NPDI regrets that the 2015 NPT Review Conference was unable

to produce a consensus outcome, this does not mean we need be resigned to

five years of minimal ambition and progress.

The previous consensus outcomes of the NPT remain relevant and valid,

including the decisions and the resolution of the 1995 Review and Extension

Conference, the Final Documents of the 2000 and 2010 Review Conferences

and, most importantly, the 2010 Action Plan. Much work remains to be done,

especially by the nuclear-weapon States. The NPDI remains committed to

strengthening their implementation and to taking forward new initiatives

where progress is possible.

The NPDI therefore calls for States Parties to continue their efforts to fully

implement their commitments. In this spirit, the NPDI will continue to

contribute constructively to advancing nuclear disarmament and

non-proliferation based on the principles of irreversibility, verifiability and

transparency during the 2020 NPT review process.

The NPDI remains open to dialogue and cooperation with individual

States Parties, regional groups and civil society to help achieve our common

goal of a renewed and strengthened consensus in 2020.

I thank you, Mr. Chairman.