Indonesia announced today that it will seek ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, dropping its demand that it would only do so after United States had ratified the landmark agreement. The announcement marks the most significant non-proliferation commitment by a non-nuclear state at the Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty review conference.
Indonesia is one of the 9 states that need to ratify the treaty before it can enter into force. China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, and the United States. When the treaty was negotiated, 44 countries were identified as Annex 2 countries – countries that participated in the CTBT’s negotiations and were in possession of nuclear power or research reactors by 1996, the last year of the negotiations. Indonesia would be the 36th country to ratify the treaty – a step toward a world free of nuclear weapons.
Who will be next? Why not the United States?
Find statements of Presbyterian General Assemblies on nuclear weapons.