Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi deposited Indonesia’s instrument of ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) on the sidelines of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. This significant move reinforces Indonesia’s commitment to a world freed from nuclear weapons and underlines its lively role in promoting global peace and security.
Indonesia, together with Sierra Leone and the Solomon Islands, deposited their instruments of ratification on the UN Secretariat General on Tuesday. This marked a key step within the implementation of the treaty, with Indonesia becoming the 73rd country to ratify the TPNW.
Indonesia’s path to ratification of the treaty began in 2017 when it first adopted the TPNW. This commitment was further strengthened when the Indonesian House of Representatives passed Law No. 22 of 2023 ratifying the TPNW, which entered into force on December 20, 2023.
As Indonesia’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Arrmanatha Nasir, emphasized, the treaty comprehensively prohibits member countries from developing, testing, producing, acquiring, possessing, stockpiling, using or threatening to make use of nuclear weapons. It further prohibits assisting, encouraging, or inducing anyone to have interaction in any of those prohibited activities.
Indonesia’s ratification of the TPNW is a big step forward not just for the country but in addition for the Southeast Asian region. It is the seventh ASEAN member state to ratify the treaty, after Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
By taking this decisive motion, Indonesia wishes to contribute to reducing the chance of the use and proliferation of nuclear weapons. It also goals to place moral and political pressure on nuclear-weapon states to meet their disarmament obligations and work towards a world freed from nuclear weapons. Moreover, Indonesia’s commitment to TPNW is consistent with its efforts to advertise the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
Indonesia’s lively role in promoting the TPNW demonstrates its leadership in disarmament efforts. The country plans to proceed to encourage other nations to hitch the treaty, contributing to an increasingly safer world for all.
