Japan has filed another draft United Nations resolution calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons worldwide and for signatories to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty to ensure next year's treaty review conference strengthens the agreement.
The resolution, submitted for the 21st year in a row to the U.N. General Assembly's committee on disarmament and security issues, enlists more than 40 countries, including nuclear states such as the United States and Britain, as joint sponsors.
The resolution welcomes the recent release of nuclear warhead stockpile figures by three of the five nuclear powers — the United States, Britain and France — and an update on its nuclear arsenal by Russia. The releases "further enhance transparency and increase mutual confidence," it says.
It makes no reference to the fifth nuclear power, China, which is believed to be stepping up its nuclear capability.
The resolution expresses "deep concern at the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons" and says all member states must achieve "a world without nuclear weapons."
It stresses the importance of achieving a successful outcome at the NPT review conference, given that next year marks the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The document, meanwhile, condemns "in the strongest terms" North Korea's nuclear tests and missile development, recognizing the importance of compliance with past Security Council resolutions that call on Pyongyang to abandon nuclear weapons.
After it is adopted by the committee, the resolution is expected to be put to a vote at the General Assembly in December.