The United States reaffirmed its commitment to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, with a U.N. review conference on the pact just one month away, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.
Noting that the treaty opened for signatures on this day 54 years ago, Blinken said in a statement Friday that, "The NPT has provided the essential foundation for international efforts to stem the looming threat — then and now — that nuclear weapons would proliferate across the globe."
"The NPT has served the interests of all its parties and limited the potential risk of a devastating nuclear war," he added.
The upcoming review conference of the NPT is scheduled to be held in August in New York.
"When the 10th review conference of the NPT opens one month from today, the United States will highlight the treaty's enduring role in reducing global dangers — whether by facilitating arms control, safeguarding peaceful nuclear activities, or deterring violations — as we work toward our ultimate goal of a world without nuclear weapons," the statement said.
Joined by about 190 countries, including both nuclear and nonnuclear states, the treaty is the world's most widely ratified nuclear arms control agreement. Its review conferences had been held every five years from 1975 to 2015. The meeting originally set for 2020 has been pushed back repeatedly due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The NPT requires the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — to commit to nuclear disarmament.
Among four other nuclear-weapon states, India, Israel and Pakistan have not joined the pact, while North Korea pulled out of the treaty in 2003.