71st Session of the UN General Assembly
First Committee
17 October 2016
New York
STATEMENT BY H.E. MR. SUKHEE SUKHBOLD, AMBASSADOR AND PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF MONGOLIA TO THE UNITED NATIONS TO INTRODUCE DRAFT RESOLUTION ON “MONGOLIA’S INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND NUCLEAR-WEAPON-FREE STATUS” (A/C.1/71/L.20)
Mr. Chairman,
I have the honour to introduce, on behalf of Australia, Austria, the People’s Republic of China, France, Indonesia, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malta, Morocco, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, the United States, Viet Nam and my own delegation, Mongolia, draft resolution A/C.1/71/L.20, entitled “Mongolia’s international security and nuclear-weapon-free status”.
Mr. Chairman,
As a demonstration of its commitment to maintaining international peace and security, Mongolia declared its territory a single-State nuclear-weapon-free zone in 1992. Since 1998, the General Assembly has considered the issue of Mongolia’s nuclear-weapon-free status and has been supporting and welcoming Mongolia’s efforts to promote and strengthen the status adopting resolutions on the subject on a biennial basis.
The five nuclear-weapon States in 2012 signed a joint declaration whereby they pledged to respect Mongolia’s status and not to contribute to any act that would violate it. A broader approach to Mongolia’s external security and the pledge by the Permanent Five, including its two neighbours, to respect the status and not to contribute to any act that would violate it, constitute the specifics of the unique approach to Mongolia’s case.
Mr.Chairman,
This year’s draft resolution is based on the Secretary-General’s report (A/71/161) on the implementation of the resolution 69/63. Moreover, it is a result of consultations that my delegation had with the interested delegations and sponsors. Hence, my delegation wishes to express its appreciation to the Secretary-General for his comprehensive report on this subject and to all Member States that sponsored the draft resolution.
The draft resolution is based on the previous resolutions on the item adopted without a vote, with some technical and factual updates.
The eleventh preambular paragraph reflects the support expressed for Mongolia’s nuclear-weapon free status at the Seventeenth Summit Conference of the Non-Aligned Countries, held in Margarita Island in September 2016. The thirteenth preambular paragraph reflects the support expressed by the Third Conference of States Parties and Signatories to Treaties that Establish Nuclear- Weapon-Free Zones and Mongolia, held in New York in April 2015.
Mongolia highly values the dialogue and interaction we have had with, and support extended by, member States for our efforts. We would be more than happy if other delegations would join us as sponsors of the draft resolution. My delegation expresses the hope that, as with similar resolutions in previous years, the Committee will adopt the draft resolution without a vote.
I thank you, Mr. Chairman.