CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT HEARS STATEMENTS FROM THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION, INDIA AND CHINA

The Conference on Disarmament this morning held its first public plenary of the third and final part of its 2008 session, under the Presidency of the United States, hearing statements from the Russian Federation, India and China on Presidential Draft Decision (CD/1840) for getting the body back to substantive work.

The Russian Federation said that, despite some questions, it was prepared to support the draft decision, and highlighted that the adoption of the programme of work would allow them to start meaningful work on the draft treaty on the prevention of placement of weapons in outer space, which had been jointly submitted to the Conference by Russia and China on 12 February 2008. China said it was ready to collaborate constructively with all parties so as to launch substantive work of the Conference at the earliest possible date, and also highlighted the priority it attached to launching discussions on the draft treaty on the prevention of deployment of weapons in outer space. India said it would work with other delegations to make progress towards reaching consensus on a programme of work to enable the Conference to move forward.

At the end of the meeting, the Conference approved a request by Uruguay to participate in the work of the 2008 session of the Conference as an observer.

According to draft decision CD/1840 by the 2008 Presidents of the Conference, the Conference would appoint Chile as Coordinator to preside over substantive discussions on nuclear disarmament and the prevention of nuclear war; appoint Japan as Coordinator to preside over negotiations, without any preconditions, on a non-discriminatory and multilateral treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, thus providing all delegations with the opportunity to actively pursue their respective positions and priorities, and to submit proposals on any issue they deem relevant in the course of negotiations; appoint Canada as Coordinator to preside over substantive discussions dealing with issues related to prevention of an arms race in outer space; appoint Senegal as Coordinator to preside over substantive discussions dealing with appropriate arrangements to assure non-nuclear weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons; and would request those Coordinators to present a report to the Conference on the progress of work before the conclusion of the session. The Conference would also decide to request the Coordinators for the agenda items previously appointed by the 2008 Presidents (i.e., new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems for such weapons, radiological weapons; comprehensive programme of disarmament; and transparency in armament) to continue their work during the current session.

Draft Decision CD/1840 builds on an earlier proposal submitted by the 2007 P-6 (CD/2007/L.1), and its related documents CRP.5 and CRP.6, combining those three texts in a single document.

The next public plenary of the Conference on Disarmament is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 5 August. The Conference will conclude the third and last part of its 2008 session on 12 September.


Statements

VICTOR VASILIEV (Russian Federation) said that one of the important results of the work of the Conference on Disarmament this year had been the draft decision prepared by the six Presidents for a programme of work – document CD/1840. As noted on several occasions, Russia had some questions on that document; nevertheless, Russia was prepared to support the draft decision. It would allow the Conference to start negotiations on a draft treaty banning the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons, and to undertake substantive discussions on both nuclear disarmament and negative security assurances for non-Nuclear weapon States. Adoption of the programme of work would also allow them to start meaningful work on the draft treaty on the prevention of placement of weapons in outer space, which had been jointly submitted to the Conference by Russia and China on 12 February 2008. Until then, that work could not be started in an official format.

As was known, the prevention of the arms race in outer space was the main priority of the Russian Federation in the Conference on Disarmament. The thematic discussions undertaken on that subject on 7 and 21 February under the guidance of the Canadian Ambassador had been very useful. They had underscored the interest of delegations in continuing work in two areas: the continuation of substantive discussions on the specific articles of the Russian-Chinese draft treaty, and to discuss specific proposals on transparency and confidence-building measures. The Russian Federation fully supported the need to step up the work of the Conference in those two areas. In that connection, the delegations of the Russian Federation and China intended to conduct on 6 August a special meeting on the question of ensuring security in outer space, in the format of a “side event”. A draft agenda would be sent to delegations. The main emphasis of that meeting would be the interactive nature of the discussions. It was therefore hoped that specific questions would be put to the co-sponsors of the draft on the draft treaty. Experts from those countries would be prepared to answer questions. The outcome of that meeting would be presented in a final paper for official adoption by the Conference on Disarmament. The side event was scheduled to take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Room XII of the Palais des Nations.

HAMID ALI RAO (India) said that, as they began the third session of the Conference on Disarmament, India would like to recall and appreciate the efforts that had been undertaken by the President and her predecessors with the aim of finding common ground to enable the Conference to commence substantive work. India would also like to recall its statement of 28 February this year detailing its overall approach on this subject. In that context, India appreciated the efforts that sought to build on the commendable efforts and the momentum that had been generated last year to move the Conference on Disarmament out of its longstanding stalemate. India would work with other delegations to make progress towards their common goal, which was reaching consensus on a programme of work to enable the Conference to move forward.

WANG QUN (China) welcomed the incoming President and said China appreciated the efforts of the President and her colleagues during the intersessional period. China was convinced that under the leadership of the new President the Conference would maintain its momentum and its atmosphere of constructive cooperation. Members of the Conference on Disarmament had undertaken extensive consultations on the programme of work, and it was hoped that the parties would continue that work and appropriately address the concerns of all parties so as to address all differences and arrive at a programme of work acceptable to all. China, for its part, was ready to continue to collaborate constructively with all parties so as to launch substantive work of the Conference at the earliest possible date, in particular discussions on the draft treaty on the prevention of deployment of weapons in outer space, which Russia had mentioned.


For use of the information media; not an official record

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