Egypt on Tuesday voiced regret over the failure of the 11th Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) to agree on a final document, referring to this as a “missed opportunity for the international community to reaffirm its commitment to the treaty’s objectives”.
The conference, held in New York on 27 April-22 May, ended without a consensus despite intensive efforts by participating states and attempts by the conference president to bridge differences.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry in Cairo stressed that the outcomes of previous review conferences remain valid, particularly the 1995 resolution calling for the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.
The resolution formed a central part of the agreement that enabled the treaty’s indefinite extension, it added.
Egypt also underlined the NPT’s key role in preserving and consolidating international security since its adoption in 1968, calling for universal adherence to the treaty by non-signatory states, especially in the Middle East, as non-nuclear states.
Egypt will carry on urging nuclear-weapon states to take serious and practical steps towards fulfilling their obligations on nuclear disarmament, stressing that implementation of the treaty would remain incomplete without achieving that goal, the statement stressed.
Cairo also reaffirmed the right of treaty member states to the peaceful use of nuclear energy for development purposes, in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
