Press Releases
The Ninth Asian Senior-level Talks on Non-Proliferation (ASTOP-IX)
March 14, 2013
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs held the Ninth Asian Senior-level Talks on Non-Proliferation (ASTOP-IX) on Thursday, March 14 at the Mita Kaigisho (Mita Conference Hall) in Tokyo. Senior level government officials in charge of non-proliferation policies from the ASEAN member countries, Australia, Canada, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the United States, and Japan, the host, participated in the meeting.
- The main points of the Talks were as follows:
(1) Participants shared the status of implementation IAEA safeguards and exchanged views on international and domestic efforts towards universalization of IAEA additional protocol.
(2) Participants also exchanged views on the importance of and cooperation to promote the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1540. Participants discussed the trend in the international community and efforts by each country for strengthening strategic trade control system.
(3) The discussion also covered the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), an effort for interdicting proliferation through cooperation among member countries, and confidence-building measures regarding missile proliferation issues. - Following the Talks, Mr. Kenta WAKABAYASHI, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs hosted a reception, in which participants continued their discussions with the non-proliferation experts of Japan. ASTOP provides a rare and precious opportunity for all senior officials from Asian countries to converge and exchange their information and views on non-proliferation issues in a comprehensive manner.
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