Indonesia Promotes Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy

Jakarta, (Antara) - Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi emphasized the importance of peaceful use of nuclear energy to the countries that have signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

"Nuclear energy for peaceful use is one of the pillars that Indonesia continues to promote," Minister Marsudi stated here during a regional dialogue and consultation on NPT held in Jakarta on Monday.

The NPT is an international treaty, signed on July 1, 1968, with the aim of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology.

As many as 190 countries have signed the treaty that has three pillars: non-proliferation, disarmament, and peaceful use of nuclear energy.

"Indonesia has always been consistent in the implementation of NPT's three pillars that should be in balance," Marsudi affirmed.

The current global situation has become a challenge and demands the commitment of the NPT member countries to achieve progress by implementing its three pillars, she remarked.

France, China, and Russia -- that currently possess nuclear weapons to fulfill their promise within the NPT to negotiate to reduce until getting totally rid of their nuclear weapons.

As many as 26 representatives from countries in the Asia-Pacific Region are attending the meeting being held in Jakarta on Mar 13-14.

The meeting was part of the series of events in preparation for the first NPT Preparatory Committee scheduled to be held in Vienna, Austria, on May 2-12, 2017.

The Preparatory Committee will be the first of three planned sessions to be held prior to the 2020 Review Conference.(*)