The nuclear test ban treaty CTBT is one step closer to being implemented, following its ratification by key signatory Indonesia, the commission overseeing the treaty announced Tuesday. “I welcome today’s outcome of the vote in the Indonesian Parliament to ratify the treaty,” Tibor Toth, head of the CTBT’s preparatory commission, said in a statement, describing it as a “historic decision.”
Jakarta’s move brings the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty “a significant step closer to becoming global law,” he added. So far, the CTBT, which aims to outlaw all nuclear explosions, has been signed by 182 states but 44 key states — all with nuclear technology — need to ratify it before it can come into force. With Indonesia’s vote, 36 of these countries have now ratified the treaty.
But among those still missing are North Korea, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, India, China and the United States — all states known to have or suspected of developing nuclear weapons. Indonesia is already one of the 10 states making up Southeast Asia’s nuclear-weapon free zone (NWFZ).
