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Bangladesh
Nuclear-weapon-free state
Has joined the TPNW
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SIGNED
20 September 2017 |
RATIFIED
26 September 2019 |
IN FORCE
22 January 2021 |
Status
Bangladesh has signed and ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). It was among the original 50 states parties to the treaty when it entered into force on 22 January 2021.
Signature and ratification
Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, the then-minister of foreign affairs of Bangladesh, signed the TPNW at a high-level ceremony in New York when it opened for signature on 20 September 2017.
His successor, A. K. Abdul Momen, deposited the country’s instrument of ratification with the UN secretary-general on 26 September 2019.
Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, the then-minister of foreign affairs of Bangladesh, signs the TPNW in 2017. Photo: ICAN
In a statement to the United Nations on the day of Bangladesh’s ratification, Momen described the TPNW as “a critical building block” for a nuclear-weapon-free world. He said that, once in force, it would “serve as an important international instrument for stigmatising nuclear weapons”.
In 2022, Momen said that Bangladesh’s ratification of the TPNW demonstrated its “unflinching commitment to the total elimination of nuclear weapons”, and the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, pointed to the ratification as evidence of Bangladesh’s full commitment “to complete disarmament”.
Bangladesh was the equal 28th state to ratify or accede to the TPNW.
A. K. Abdul Momen, the minister of foreign affairs of Bangladesh, deposits the country’s instrument of ratification in 2019. Photo: ICAN
Implementation
In accordance with Article 2 of the TPNW, Bangladesh submitted a declaration to the UN secretary-general on 21 February 2021 confirming that it does not own, possess, or control nuclear weapons, has never done so, and does not host any other state’s nuclear weapons on its territory.
Per Article 12, Bangladesh has promoted universal adherence to the TPNW, including by co-sponsoring and consistently voting in favour of an annual UN General Assembly resolution since 2018 that calls upon all states to sign, ratify, or accede to the treaty “at the earliest possible date”.
In 2022, Bangladesh called upon “states that are yet to join [the] TPNW to do so without any delay, to attain universal application of this treaty. We would like to see, as a matter of priority, its full implementation by all, including the nuclear-weapon-possessing states and nuclear-umbrella states.”
In 2023, it urged all states that have not yet ratified the TPNW to do so, in order “to contribute to our collective commitment to building a safer and more secure world”.
ICAN’s then-executive director, Beatrice Fihn, discusses the TPNW with the prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, in Germany in 2019. Photo: Bangladesh MFA
National position
Bangladesh has described its support for nuclear disarmament as a “constitutional obligation of our peace-centric foreign policy”. In 2022, it argued that nuclear weapons secure no one and instead endanger everyone’s security. “Hence, the ultimate guarantee of security lies only in the total elimination of nuclear weapons. It was from that conviction we ratified the [TPNW].”
It welcomed the TPNW’s entry into force in 2021, which “will serve as a critical component in strengthening the [Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968]”, and which signified “the culmination of a 75-year-long aspiration for a world free of nuclear weapons, offering a beacon of hope for humanity”.
Meetings of states parties
Bangladesh participated in the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW in 2022. “We must now redouble our efforts for full and effective implementation of the treaty,” it said. “At the same time, we must relentlessly work for universal adherence.”
Bangladesh welcomed the adoption of the “landmark 50-point Vienna action plan”.
In 2023, it participated in the second meeting of states parties. “We firmly believe that the TPNW will make significant progress toward achieving the universally agreed goal of the complete elimination of nuclear weapons,” it said.
TPNW negotiations
Bangladesh participated in the negotiation of the TPNW at the United Nations in New York in 2017 and was among 122 states that voted in favour of its adoption.
In its opening statement to the negotiating conference, Bangladesh said that the treaty “can serve as an international common standard for stigmatising nuclear weapons and can send an unequivocal message about the inhuman and indiscriminate impact of the use of nuclear weapons”.
Before the negotiations
In 2016, Bangladesh voted in favour of the UN General Assembly resolution that established the formal mandate for states to commence negotiations on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.
Prior to the adoption of the TPNW in 2017, nuclear weapons were the only weapons of mass destruction not subject to a comprehensive, globally applicable treaty prohibition. Bangladesh supported calls in the UN General Assembly fill this “legal gap”.
Further information
Nuclear-weapon-free state
Has joined the TPNW
[HIGHLIGHTS]
|
|
|
|
SIGNED
20 September 2017 |
RATIFIED
26 September 2019 |
IN FORCE
22 January 2021 |
Status
Bangladesh has signed and ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). It was among the original 50 states parties to the treaty when it entered into force on 22 January 2021.
Signature and ratification
Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, the then-minister of foreign affairs of Bangladesh, signed the TPNW at a high-level ceremony in New York when it opened for signature on 20 September 2017.
His successor, A. K. Abdul Momen, deposited the country’s instrument of ratification with the UN secretary-general on 26 September 2019.
Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, the then-minister of foreign affairs of Bangladesh, signs the TPNW in 2017. Photo: ICAN
In a statement to the United Nations on the day of Bangladesh’s ratification, Momen described the TPNW as “a critical building block” for a nuclear-weapon-free world. He said that, once in force, it would “serve as an important international instrument for stigmatising nuclear weapons”.
In 2022, Momen said that Bangladesh’s ratification of the TPNW demonstrated its “unflinching commitment to the total elimination of nuclear weapons”, and the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, pointed to the ratification as evidence of Bangladesh’s full commitment “to complete disarmament”.
Bangladesh was the equal 28th state to ratify or accede to the TPNW.
A. K. Abdul Momen, the minister of foreign affairs of Bangladesh, deposits the country’s instrument of ratification in 2019. Photo: ICAN
Implementation
In accordance with Article 2 of the TPNW, Bangladesh submitted a declaration to the UN secretary-general on 21 February 2021 confirming that it does not own, possess, or control nuclear weapons, has never done so, and does not host any other state’s nuclear weapons on its territory.
Per Article 12, Bangladesh has promoted universal adherence to the TPNW, including by co-sponsoring and consistently voting in favour of an annual UN General Assembly resolution since 2018 that calls upon all states to sign, ratify, or accede to the treaty “at the earliest possible date”.
In 2022, Bangladesh called upon “states that are yet to join [the] TPNW to do so without any delay, to attain universal application of this treaty. We would like to see, as a matter of priority, its full implementation by all, including the nuclear-weapon-possessing states and nuclear-umbrella states.”
In 2023, it urged all states that have not yet ratified the TPNW to do so, in order “to contribute to our collective commitment to building a safer and more secure world”.
ICAN’s then-executive director, Beatrice Fihn, discusses the TPNW with the prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, in Germany in 2019. Photo: Bangladesh MFA
National position
Bangladesh has described its support for nuclear disarmament as a “constitutional obligation of our peace-centric foreign policy”. In 2022, it argued that nuclear weapons secure no one and instead endanger everyone’s security. “Hence, the ultimate guarantee of security lies only in the total elimination of nuclear weapons. It was from that conviction we ratified the [TPNW].”
It welcomed the TPNW’s entry into force in 2021, which “will serve as a critical component in strengthening the [Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968]”, and which signified “the culmination of a 75-year-long aspiration for a world free of nuclear weapons, offering a beacon of hope for humanity”.
Meetings of states parties
Bangladesh participated in the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW in 2022. “We must now redouble our efforts for full and effective implementation of the treaty,” it said. “At the same time, we must relentlessly work for universal adherence.”
Bangladesh welcomed the adoption of the “landmark 50-point Vienna action plan”.
In 2023, it participated in the second meeting of states parties. “We firmly believe that the TPNW will make significant progress toward achieving the universally agreed goal of the complete elimination of nuclear weapons,” it said.
TPNW negotiations
Bangladesh participated in the negotiation of the TPNW at the United Nations in New York in 2017 and was among 122 states that voted in favour of its adoption.
In its opening statement to the negotiating conference, Bangladesh said that the treaty “can serve as an international common standard for stigmatising nuclear weapons and can send an unequivocal message about the inhuman and indiscriminate impact of the use of nuclear weapons”.
Before the negotiations
In 2016, Bangladesh voted in favour of the UN General Assembly resolution that established the formal mandate for states to commence negotiations on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.
Prior to the adoption of the TPNW in 2017, nuclear weapons were the only weapons of mass destruction not subject to a comprehensive, globally applicable treaty prohibition. Bangladesh supported calls in the UN General Assembly fill this “legal gap”.
Further information
[PARTNERS]
Center for Bangladesh Studies
Participatory Human Rights Advancement Society
Physicians for Social Responsibility
[LOCALSUPPORT]
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