JAKARTA today held a Panel discussion on the International Nuclear Commission for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND) report: ‘Eliminating Nuclear Threats: A Practical Agenda for Global Policymakers’.
In order to encourage further public awareness of non-proliferation and disarmament issues, the Australian Embassy, the Japanese Embassy, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (KEMLU), and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) hosted an expert panel discussion on the ICNND’s report.
The report was launched today by His Excellency Bill Farmer AO, Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, His Excellency Kojiro Shiojiri, Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia and His Excellency Hamzah Thayeb, Director General for Asia Pacific and Africa.
The ICNND was established in August of 2008, a joint initiative of the Australian and Japan governments that endeavoured to reenergised high level political discussion on the issue.
Amongst the threats humankind face today are poverty, mass hunger, economic crisis, climate change, terrorism and the issue that has been overlooked; imminent threat of nuclear holocaust. ‘We are in no less danger of radioactive incineration as we were at the end of the cold war’, said Director General for Asia Pacific and Africa, Hamzah Thayeb.
Today’s panel discussion was chaired by Dr Rizal Sukma, Executive Director of CSIS, with expert panellists consisting of Ambassador Wiryono Sastrohandoyo, Indonesian Commissioner on the ICNND; Professor Dr Dewi Fortuna Anwar, Deputy Chairman for Social Sciences and Humanities, LIPI; and Dr Hudi Hastowo, Chairman of the Indonesian Nuclear Energy Agency.
‘The world’s nuclear arsenals consist of around 2300 active nuclear warheads’, said Ambassador Wiryono Sastrohandoyo, Indonesian Commissioner on the ICNND. These statistics are detailed in the ICNND report but it is noted that these are a rough approximation due to a lack of transparency on this category of weapon. China, India and Pakistan amongst other countries release no official figures on its nuclear forces, making it difficult for political leaders to completely understand the threat.
‘United States and Russia will have to take a leading role’, said Ambassador Wiryono Sastrohandoyo, as these two countries are reported to hold the most deployed and reserve nuclear arsenals in the world. The ICNND report asserts that the minimisation and ultimate elimination of nuclear weapons entails a ‘…critical need to change perceptions of their role and utility…’ ‘There is now a race between nuclear holocaust and educating humankind of the threat of nuclear arms’, said Ambassador Wiryono Sastrohandoyo.
There are three pillars to the endeavours of the ICNND; achieving nuclear disarmament, achieving nuclear non-proliferation and promoting the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
The overall strategy in achieving total nuclear disarmament documented by the ICNND report is ‘…to achieve their progressive delegitimation, from a position in which they occupied a central strategic place to one in which their role is seen as quite marginal, and eventually wholly unnecessary as well as undesirable…’ ‘Nuclear weapons should have no place in our civilisation. It is morally abhorrent to hold weapons of mass destruction’, said Professor Dr Dewi Fortuna Anwar, Deputy Chairman for Social Sciences and Humanities, LIPI.
‘2010 is a decisive year in achieving a world free of nuclear weapons’, said Japanese Ambassador Kojiro Shiojiri. The ICNND report concludes that although the ultimate elimination phase is decades away, we must begin now in detailed analysis and international debate, ‘…to help motivate and inform the work that must generate and sustain momentum for change for many years to come…’
The threat of nuclear weapons and a nuclear holocaust is evident. It is imperative that this issue is not overlooked; the message of the ICNND is that action starts now but is only possible with total global involvement. Common ground among nuclear armed states on nuclear doctrine is needed. Hamzah Thayeb, Director General for Asia Pacific and Africa, reinforces this with the statement that ‘All peace loving nations must mobilise now’.
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