Press Releases
The 20th Asia Senior-Level Talks on Non-Proliferation (ASTOP)
March 11, 2026
On March 10 and 11, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan hosted the 20th Asia Senior-Level Talks on Non-Proliferation (ASTOP). Government officials in charge from 19 countries (Commonwealth of Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Kingdom of Cambodia, Canada, European Union, French Republic, Federal Republic of Germany, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Italian Republic, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Kingdom of the Netherlands, New Zealand, Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Republic of Singapore, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Socialist Republic of Viet Nam) and Japan participated in the meeting.
- In his opening remarks, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs ONISHI Yoichi stated that he expected the meeting would serve as an opportunity to strengthen each country’s efforts and cooperation toward the shared goal of non-proliferation in Asia, in the face of a challenging security environment and growing proliferation risks.
- This meeting was chaired by Dr. NAKAMURA Kimitake, Ambassador, Director-General of Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Science Department. In his remarks, he called on all participants to work together to ensure that the upcoming NPT Review Conference, scheduled to begin next month in New York, will be as productive and fruitful as possible. The participants actively exchanged views mainly on the following topics:
- Regional proliferation concerns
- Efforts and challenges in strengthening export control and cooperation in capacity building
- International efforts on non-proliferation such as Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) and universalization of the IAEA Additional Protocol
- Efforts of Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCoC)