Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation
Foreign Minister Kamikawa Receives a Courtesy Call from the Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO)
March 18, 2024
On March 18 from 2:30 p.m. local time (3:30 a.m., March 19, Japan time) for thirty minutes, during her visit to New York to attend to the Ministerial briefing of the U.N. Security Council, Ms. Kamikawa Yoko, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan received a courtesy call from Dr. Robert Floyd, Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO). The overview of the call is as follows:
- At the outset, Minister Kamikawa expressed her gratitude for the briefing by Executive Secretary Floyd at the Security Council briefing, in which he expressed his views based on his visit to Hiroshima, and stated that Japan attaches great importance to the early entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) as a realistic and practical nuclear disarmament measure toward realizing a world without nuclear weapons. She also conveyed her appreciation for the dramatic progress in the relationship between Japan and the CTBTO through the two visits by Executive Secretary Floyd to Japan last year.
- Minister Kamikawa, referring to the ballistic missile launches by North Korea on March 18, Japan time, also stated that Japan would continue to work closely with the CTBTO amid the possibility of further provocations by North Korea, including a nuclear test, and that Japan would work even more actively to increase momentum for the entry into force of the treaty, while also utilizing the framework of the CTBT Friends.
- In response, Executive Secretary Floyd expressed his respect to Japan’s leadership to promote nuclear disarmament on non-proliferation as well as his appreciation for Japan's contribution for the overall activities of the CTBTO, including the Preparatory Committee for the CTBTO as its Chair, and both sides agreed to work more closely toward an early into force of the CTBT.