Ambassador Masud Bin Momen, Permanent Representative (PR) of Bangladesh to the United Nations said that utilizing nuclear energy can play a vital role to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for Bangladesh which is also known as agenda 2030.
Masud Bin Momen, said, “We can use the potentials of nuclear energy to bring tremendous benefits to the humankind such as meeting the energy needs, medicinal science, research, water management and food security etc. So, nuclear energy can play an instrumental role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.”
Momen said so at the 3rd session of the Preparatory Committee meeting for the 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapon (NPT) at the UN headquarters on Tuesday.
Ambassador Momen then exemplified Bangladesh saying that the country has already started the construction of its first nuclear power plant, which will play a special role in meeting the future electricity demand of Bangladesh.
Mentioning Bangladesh’s continued commitment under the guidance of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to the full implementation of the NPT, he said, “This commitment emanates from our constitutional obligation and the vision of our Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
In this context, he commemorated the renowned speech given the by the father of nation Bangabandhu on 25th September of 1974 in the General Assembly of the UN where he urged the world leaders to work towards ‘relaxation of tension, limitation of armaments and the promotion of peaceful coexistence in every part of the world’.
He recalled that Bangladesh had signed all the major multilateral disarmament treaties including the Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the Chemical Weapon Convention, the Biological Weapons Convention, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and the Arms Trade Treaty.
Ambassador Momen raised his concern about the threats of nuclear weapons and fissile materials falling in wrong hands. He urged the nuclear weapon states to fulfil, in good faith, their obligations under Article VI of the NPT, and fulfil their commitments surrounding the 2000 and 2010 outcomes of the NPT Review Conferences.
The Preparatory Committee meeting for the 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the NPT commenced on 29 April at United Nations Headquarters in New York and will end on 10 May 2019. It is the third and final session prior to the 2020 Review Conference.
The NPT Review Conference in 2020 will mark the 50th anniversary of the Treaty’s entry into force.