Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Oct. 12 (VNA) -- Viet Nam persistently supports regional and international initiatives to achieve a complete elimination of weapons of mass destruction, said Counsellor of the Vietnamese Permanent Mission to the United Nations Hoang Chi Trung in New York on Oct. 11.

Addressing the General Debate of the First Committee of the 56th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, the Vietnamese representative noted: "In the realities of our world today, the policies which rely on nuclear deterrence and the retention of huge arsenals of nuclear warheads are simply wrong and unjustifiable on any count. My delegation would like to underline that it is now a matter of urgency and, in many ways, of survival for humankind, that the United Nations should redouble its efforts to galvanize the world community to work hard together for a world free from nuclear and biological weapons."

He further said that Viet Nam wishes to emphasize that the surest way to ensure against the use of weapons of mass destruction is total prohibition of such weapons. It was overdue that a convention banning nuclear weapons be concluded by the United Nations, Trung told the session, adding that one of the objectives of the international conference was to reach some agreement on this imperative.

"We are going to hold the first preparatory meeting for the review conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty this summer. This will be an opportunity to assess the progress of the implementation of the provisions of this important regime. It is unfortunate to note that the Nuclear States are yet forthcoming in realizing the commitments they made under Article VI of the Treaty and more recently at the 2000 review conference. Viet Nam wishes to join the other delegations and call on the Nuclear States to carry out without any further delay the practical steps agreed upon in the Final Document of the review conference as initial building blocks leading towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons," the Vietnamese representative noted.

He added: "It is encouraging, however, to recognize that the two principal Nuclear States have repeatedly pledged to work harder together to accelerate the START process with a view to reducing more drastically their stockpiles of nuclear warheads and their delivery systems."

"Viet Nam continues to note with great concern the negative implications of the on-going efforts to develop and deploy anti-ballistic missile systems as well as the determined pursuit of advanced military technologies for deployment in outer space," Counsellor Trung said. He added that this tendency is very worrisome to many countries, including Viet Nam for it may trigger another costly and wasteful arms race which mankind as a whole cannot afford.

The Vietnamese diplomat went on to clarify Viet Nam's position toward the ABM Treaty, saying the treaty is a cornerstone of international strategic stability and its abrogation holds grave consequences for world peace and security. Viet Nam, therefore, calls on the State Parties to the Treaty to respect the integrity and comply fully with the provisions of this important Treaty, Mr. Trung said.

He continued his speech: "Viet Nam, on behalf of the member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations has introduced a Paper of 10 measures leading to a world free from nuclear weapons at the recent session of the United Nations Disarmament Commission. Our contribution has been reflected in the Chairman's Working Paper which will serve as a basis for the formulation of a guideline of ways and means to promote nuclear disarmament. My delegation sincerely hopes that at the coming session of the UN Disarmament Commission, these measures will be agreed upon and a new momentum be created in our common efforts to acquit ourselves with this urgent task. One of the immediate tasks described in our Paper is to enable the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) to enter into force as soon as possible. There are several obstacles to overcome and even greater and more consistent efforts are called for. We look forward to the rescheduled conference to facilitate this objective."

"Bio-terrorism is a word often heard in town these days after the tragic events which took place a few miles from this room. Even if this is only rumor or purely hearsay, efforts to strengthen the compliance of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) are needed as urgently as ever. In this context, my delegation regrets that the negotiations on a Protocol setting up a verification and compliance regime of the Convention have not been successful. We earnestly hope that the differences will be soon resolved and fruitful negotiations on this regime will be resumed at the up-coming Review Conference," the counsellor concluded.--VNA