Progress Towards a Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone

by Scott Parrish, CNS Postdoctoral Fellow
December 1997

Update: September 7, 2006 -- see "Central Asian States Establish Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Despite U.S. Opposition"

Although it appeared unrealistic when first proposed in 1993, the establishment of a Central Asian nuclear-weapon-free zone (NWFZ) now looks increasingly likely. As demonstrated by the February 1997 Almaty Declaration of the presidents of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan, the five states of the region have reached consensus on the establishment of such a zone, and a working group of diplomats from the five countries has already begun preliminary work to draft a treaty which would formally create it. On the international level, the idea of establishing a Central Asian NWFZ received a strong endorsement on 10 November 1997, when the First Main Committee of the UN General Assembly passed by consensus a resolution endorsing the initiative of the five Central Asian states aimed at establishing such a zone. Particularly significant was the support of the five nuclear weapon states, some of which had in the past expressed reservations about the proposed zone. Although the process of negotiating the text of the treaty creating the proposed Central Asian NWFZ still faces obstacles and will undoubtedly take some time, it now seems probable that the fifth nuclear-weapon-free zone established in the world--following the treaties of Tlatelolco, Rarotonga, Bangkok, and Pelindaba--will be in Central Asia. (For a general overview of the issues involved in creating nuclear-weapon-free zones, please see the Nuclear Weapon-Free-Zone Question and Answer Guide (in Adobe Acrobat PDF format) by Tariq Rauf of the CNS International Organizations and Nonproliferation Program.)
 

Regional Consensus Takes Shape

One of the internationally recognized criteria regarding NWFZs is that they should be established “on the basis of arrangements freely arrived at among the States of the region concerned,” meaning that a regional consensus is necessary before a regional treaty creating such a zone can be negotiated.[1] The concept of a Central Asian NWFZ was first voiced by Uzbek President Islam Karimov at the 48th session of the UN General Assembly in 1993. It was later the subject of a proposal by the Kyrgyz and Uzbek delegations at the 1995 Review and Extension conference of the state parties to the Treaty on Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).[2] At the 51st session of the UN General Assembly in October 1996,š Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia submitted a draft resolution on the issue, although it was subsequently withdrawn when it did not gain the support of the other states in the region.[3] None of these proposals made much headway, however, since regional consensus on the issue did not emerge until early 1997. On 28 February 1997, the five Central Asian presidents issued the Almaty Declaration, which endorsed the creation of a Central Asian NWFZ. The declaration placed the establishment of the NWFZ in the context of the environmental challenges faced by all five Central Asian states. Each of the Central Asian states housed parts of the former Soviet nuclear infrastructure, and they now confront common problems of environmental damage resulting from the production and testing of Soviet nuclear weapons.

This regional consensus was further emphasized at the April 1997 session of the NPT Prepcom, when the states of the region agreed to form a working group of foreign ministry officials to coordinate activities related to creating a Central Asian NWFZ. The five Central Asian states also collaborated in holding an international conference on the issue in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from 14-16 September 1997. At the Tashkent conference, experts from the four existing NWFZs discussed lessons learned during the creation of their zones which might be of use to the Central Asians as they undertake the drafting of their own regional NWFZ treaty. Following the meeting, the foreign ministers of the five Central Asian states issued the Tashkent Statement, reaffirming their commitment to establish a NWFZ and calling on the UN and other interested states to lend all possible assistance during the drafting of a treaty establishing the Central Asian NWFZ.  

International Support Demonstrated at UN

In the wake of the Almaty Declaration, at the April 1997 NPT Prepcom, a number of non-nuclear weapon states endorsed the proposed Central Asian NWFZ, including a statement of support by the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), and individual endorsements from Australia, Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Mongolia, New Zealand, and Poland. This international support has grown in recent months to include the nuclear powers as well. In 1994 and 1995, both Russia and China had expressed some reservations about the proposed Central Asian NWFZ. In November 1997, at the 52nd session of the UN General Assembly, the five Central Asian states jointly submitted a draft resolution endorsing their initiative aimed at establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone. Diplomats from the five Central Asian states were initially uncertain how the nuclear powers would react to this resolution. The United States, Russia, China, France, and Great Britain, however, endorsed the resolution after the Central Asian states agreed to accept several amendments that the nuclear powers had proposed. The revised resolution was then adopted by consensus on 10 November 1997 in the First Main Committee of the UN General Assembly, which deals with international security and disarmament issues. Following the adoption of the resolution, the United States made a statement in which it again reiterated its support in principle for the proposed Central Asian zone, but noted that “the devil is in the details,” adding that final American support would be contingent on the detailed provisions of the treaty establishing the zone.[4]

Future Plans

The UN resolution also welcomed the proposal of the Kyrgyz Republic to hold an experts' meeting in Bishkek in 1998 to begin hammering out the details of the treaty establishing the zone. With regional consensus achieved and international support robust, the prospects for progress toward the conclusion of a treaty establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia appear solid. Supporters of the treaty, both in Central Asia and outside the region, believe that the proposed zone will not only strengthen regional security and the global nonproliferation regime, but also hope that it will foster broader cooperation among the Central Asian states.

Notes

[1] UNSSOD1, Resolution S-10/2.
[2] 1995 Review and Extension Conference of Parties to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, “Report of Main Committee II,” NPT/CONF.1995/MC.II/1, 5 May 1995, p. 16, in International Atomic Energy Agency, INFCIRC/474.
[3] “Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia: Draft Resolution on the Establishment of a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in the Central Asian Region,” A/C.1/51/L.29, 29 October 1996.
[4] UN Press Release, GA/DIS/3095, 10 November 1997.
 

 

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This material is produced independently for NTI by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2002 by MIIS.

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