NEW YORK, May 2 (RIA Novosti, Andrei Loshchilin) - The seventh Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is opening today in the United Nations headquarters in New York City. Such forums are held every five years in keeping with Article 8 of the NPT. Since the 2000 review conference, Cuba and Timor Lesti have signed up to the Treaty while North Korea has pulled out.
North Korea's decision to withdraw from the NPT will be high on the agenda of this year's conference, to run through May 27. Other issues expected to be discussed include nuclear disarmament, inspections of nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency, peaceful nuclear programs, and the prevention of nuclear materials falling into the hands of terrorists.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has pointed out that states possessing nuclear weapons should make more efforts to reaffirm their commitment to the obligations assumed under the Treaty while non-nuclear powers should agree to more rigorous control of their compliance by IAEA inspectors. Annan has described the NPT as the cornerstone of global security, noting that its efficiency and reliability are being subjected to serious testing.
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was approved by the UN General Assembly on June 12, 1968, and opened to accession on July 1, 1968, in Moscow, London and Washington, D.C.
The NPT came into force on March 5, 1970, after instruments of ratification had been submitted by the three depositary states (the USSR, the U.S., and the UK) and forty other countries.
As many as 191 UN member states have joined the NPT, making it the largest international treaty. Only Israel, Pakistan and India are staying away.
