NEW YORK, 6 JUNE 1998
STATEMENT BY AMBASSADOR ANTÓNIO MONTEIRO, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF PORTUGAL, TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL 3890^th MEETING (The responsibility of the Security Council in the maintenance of international peace and security)

The President: I shall now make a statement in my capacity as the representative of Portugal.

I would like to state that in voting in favour of the draft resolution before us, Portugal's position is fully reflected in the statement that will be made by the presidency of the European Union.

Sir John Weston (United Kingdom): I have the honour to make the following statement on behalf of the European Union. The Central and Eastern European countries associated with the European Union — Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia — and the associated country Cyprus, as well as the European Free Trade Association country member of the European Economic Area, Iceland, align themselves with this statement.

The European Union warmly welcomes the adoption of this resolution, which reflects the abhorrence of the international community as a whole at the recent nuclear tests carried out first by India and then by Pakistan, and its deep concern about the threat posed to the peace and stability of the South Asia region by nuclear and missile proliferation. As the European Union has already made clear, we condemn these actions, which run counter to the will expressed by the 149 signatories of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty to cease nuclear testing, and to efforts to strengthen the global non-proliferation regime.

The European Union remains fully committed to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as the cornerstone of the global non-proliferation regime and the essential foundation for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament, and calls on all States which have not yet done so to become parties to it. The European Union also remains fully committed to the early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

The European Union urges India and Pakistan to take early steps to demonstrate their commitment to international efforts on non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament by signing the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and moving to ratify it; by contributing actively and without conditions towards the opening of negotiations at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva for a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons and other nuclear explosive devices; by exerting stringent controls over the export of material, equipment and technology controlled under the Nuclear Suppliers' Group trigger and dual use lists and the Missile Technology Control Regime annex; and by committing themselves neither to assemble nuclear devices nor to deploy such devices on delivery vehicles, and to cease development and deployment of ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads.

The European Union will follow closely the evolution of the situation and take appropriate action should India and Pakistan not sign and move to ratify the relevant international non-proliferation agreements, in particular the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, without conditions.

The European Union also urges India and Pakistan to engage in a dialogue which addresses the root causes of the tension between them, and to try to build confidence rather than seek confrontation.