The State of Qatar took part in the Conference on Disarmament (high-level segment) which was held in Geneva.
The delegation of the State of Qatar to the conference was headed by HE Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr. Ahmed bin Hassan Al Hammadi.
In the statement of the State of Qatar, HE the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed Qatar's keenness, as part of its efforts to achieve international peace and security, to participate effectively in international forums concerned with disarmament issues, and to join relevant international conventions and treaties, most notably the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the Biological Weapons Convention, and the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and the Convention on Nuclear Safety.
HE noted the establishment of the National Committee for the Prohibition of Weapons (NCPW) in 2004 to be the body entrusted with putting into effect the agreements that the State of Qatar has acceded to, in addition to the establishment of the Doha Regional Center for the Training on Weapons of Mass Destruction in 2012, in cooperation with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, to cover training activities in the field of weapons of mass destruction, in coordination with relevant organizations and institutions.
HE the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs looked forward to holding the Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, indicating that the delay and procrastination in establishing a zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East will not help to achieve peace and security, and is inconsistent with the obligations and responsibilities of the international community, especially the sponsoring countries of the 1995 resolution, and their duties towards implementing the decisions of the 2010 conference, and other relevant resolutions. The delay also affects the credibility of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, especially in light of the existing regional and international tensions.
"The State of Qatar believes that the Conference on Disarmament remains the only multilateral negotiating body on disarmament, and we believe, with many countries, that the Conference should review the expansion of its membership in accordance with the internal rules," HE said.
HE affirmed the State of Qatar's desire to join the Conference on Disarmament as a member state, hoping that the member states of the Conference would take a step forward in this matter.
He also stressed the importance of fully complying with all commitments contained in the international instruments concerned with nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation, and the commitment to work with the international community for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons and the achievement of regional and international peace and security.
He noted that the world has been experiencing critical times and the international peace and security have been exposed to escalating dangers; pointing to the threat of nuclear weapons to humanity, as there are more than 13,000 nuclear weapons in military arsenals around the world, and any tension, escalation of crises or miscalculation would lead to using these weapons and annihilating the life and human existence.
Accordingly, the only way to eliminate all nuclear dangers lies in a world free of nuclear weapons. As an essential step towards achieving this goal, it is more urgent than ever to activate the work of the Conference on Disarmament and launch a negotiating process based on common ground on the core issues, especially issues of nuclear disarmament and effective international arrangements to secure non-nuclear-weapon states from the use or threat of nuclear weapons, HE continued.
This step will be a message of reassurance to humanity that multilateral diplomacy is present in the most complex crises and capable of enhancing humanity's hopes for a world free of nuclear weapons, HE added.