Intervention by Minister María Paula Mac Loughlin

October 27

Explanation of Vote

The Argentine Republic abstained in draft resolution L.6

The Argentine Republic has a clear, permanent and seamless commitment to the disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, in this case in particular, nuclear weapons.

This is evident in our membership and active and permanent support for the Non-Proliferation Treaty and our regional instrument for the prohibition of nuclear weapons, the Treaty of Tlatelolco.

In this spirit, we participate in the negotiation process that, within the framework of the United Nations, led to the adoption of the text of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on July 7, 2017.

Argentina has begun a process of analysis and evaluation of the text of the agreement, which has not yet been concluded. This analysis includes an evaluation of the impact that the Treaty has on the non-proliferation regime, fundamentally embodied in the NPT, the CTBT and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy in a broad sense.

Naturally, to the extent that we have not signed yet this Treaty, we voted in abstention a text that makes a strong call to the signature and ratification of it.

For the Argentine Republic, under the present circumstances, it is fundamental to sustain and strengthen the disarmament and non-proliferation regime, the centerpiece of which is the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

For this reason, we have presented on behalf of GRULAC our candidacy for the presidency of the Review Conference that will take place in 2020, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the entry into force of the NPT.

Similarly, the prompt entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, in a scenario in which North Korea routinely resorts to these tests, is another urgent task that deserves the highest priority.

The agreement on nuclear weapons, or any other future instrument, should strengthen the NPT, avoiding duplicating or generating parallel regimes on provisions that have already been consolidated and firmly accepted under the NPT, particularly with regard to verification and the regime of nuclear safeguards administered by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is derived from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Argentina will always be firmly aligned in favor of nuclear disarmament, which is an objective shared by all and which has been the object of an unequivocal commitment reaffirmed by all the states that are parties to the NPT.

Argentina shares this aspiration with the co-sponsors of this text, with whom will continue to strive in the relevant international forums.