Kazakh president stresses importance of US ratification of protocol on nuclear-free Central Asia

By Kuban Andymen

ASTANA: Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has emphasized the importance of the United States ratifying the Protocol on Negative Security Assurances to the Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia (CANWFZ).

Tokayev emphasized the call during the “Central Asia-USA” summit while meeting with President Joe Biden, Kazinform reports.

The Protocol has been signed by the five nuclear-weapons states in 2014, but was, so far, ratified by four with the exception of the United States.

The ratification by the five states will help complete the institutionalization process of the region’s nuclear-free status and will be a significant milestone in international efforts to strengthen nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

The Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (CANWFZ) treaty is a legally binding commitment by Central Asian States (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) not to manufacture, acquire, test, or possess nuclear weapons.

Central Asia is the only region in the northern hemisphere where the placement of nuclear arsenals is prohibited. Similar zones exist in Latin America, Africa, Southeast Asia, and the southern part of the Pacific Ocean.

President Tokayev, as part of his visit to New York, has participated in the summit of the heads of Central Asian states and the USA. Participants discussed collaborative efforts to further strengthen the sovereignty, stability, and prosperity of Central Asia through the C5+1 partnership in the fields of economics, energy, and security.