Foreign Minister Retno Calls for Nuclear Disarmament 'Concrete Action'

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi in a statement issued at the Conference in Disarmament held in Geneva, Swiss, urged countries to make real-world efforts that encourage nuclear disarmament. The Minister warned that the risk of a nuclear disaster is just a matter of time if such calls are ignored, especially considering Russia’s backtracking from the nuclear arms reduction treaty.

“The world without nuclear weapons is still far from reality,” said the Minister in a written statement on the Foreign Affairs Ministry website. 

She argues that nuclear disarmament efforts have stagnated for more than a quarter of a century due to the absence of a political will, the complexity of the global security situation, and the persistence of the Cold War mentality. 

Amidst complex situations such as these, countries that are armed with nuclear weapons will continue to modernize their weaponry and stand by their nuclear deference in their military doctrine. 

"Without decisive concrete action, a nuclear disaster is only a matter of time, and this risk is getting bigger as the major powers rivalry intensifies," said the Foreign Minister.

Russian President, Vladimir Putin suspended his participation in the Nuclear Reduction Treaty with the United States called The New START. This became one of the concerns discussed at the Conference in Disarmament meeting.

Russia's withdrawal from the New START Treaty nuclear agreement is a concern for many countries because it is considered to further increase the risk of using nuclear weapons. 

According to Minister Retno, in order to encourage progress on nuclear disarmament, there are three concrete actions that need to be taken.

The first she suggests is to restore political will. There must be concrete actions taken to achieve nuclear disarmament. The main focus that needs to be encouraged is legally binding Negative Security Assurances (NSA).

NSAs are guarantees that nuclear weapon states will not use or threaten the use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states. This will incentivize states that have complied with their obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty and increase mutual trust between states that possess nuclear weapons and those that do not.

Secondly, strengthen the architecture of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. This is done, among others, through the universalization of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Indonesia is currently finalizing the ratification process and expects other countries to ratify it soon.

Furthermore, the use of nuclear for peaceful purposes must be strictly safeguarded so as not to be diverted into weapons.

Thirdly, facilitating compliance with nuclear-weapon-free zones. Nuclear weapon-free zones are an important element in efforts to realize global nuclear disarmament.

"As the Chair of ASEAN this year, Indonesia will continue to promote nuclear-weapon-free zones in the Southeast Asian region," the Foreign Minister said. This will be done by seeking the signing of the Protocol on Nuclear Free Zones in Southeast Asia.

AMY HEPPY | INDONESIAN FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTRY

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