Sri Lanka

Nuclear-weapon-free state

Has not yet joined the TPNW

Summary

Sri Lanka has not yet signed or ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

 

National position

Sri Lanka has promoted universal adherence to the TPNW, including by 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 December 2021, Sri Lanka’s cabinet of ministers “agreed to the proposal submitted by the minister of foreign affairs to sign the [TPNW] and to initiate the applicable national legal formulation review with the objective of finalising the ratification process as soon as possible”.

In a statement to the United Nations in 2018, Sri Lanka described itself as “a stalwart supporter of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which was adopted last year”.

 

TPNW negotiations

Sri Lanka 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 first statement to the negotiating conference, Sri Lanka said that “the solution to counter the challenge of nuclear weapons lies within multilateralism, in the collective will of the [UN] member states”.

In 2016, Sri Lanka co-sponsored 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”.

 

Before the negotiations

Sri Lanka was among 127 states that endorsed a “humanitarian pledge” in 2015–16 to cooperate “in efforts to stigmatise, prohibit, and eliminate nuclear weapons”. The pledge was instrumental in building momentum and support for convening the TPNW negotiations.

Nuclear-weapon-free state

Has not yet joined the TPNW

[HIGHLIGHTS]

Summary

Sri Lanka has not yet signed or ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

 

National position

Sri Lanka has promoted universal adherence to the TPNW, including by 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 December 2021, Sri Lanka’s cabinet of ministers “agreed to the proposal submitted by the minister of foreign affairs to sign the [TPNW] and to initiate the applicable national legal formulation review with the objective of finalising the ratification process as soon as possible”.

In a statement to the United Nations in 2018, Sri Lanka described itself as “a stalwart supporter of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which was adopted last year”.

 

TPNW negotiations

Sri Lanka 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 first statement to the negotiating conference, Sri Lanka said that “the solution to counter the challenge of nuclear weapons lies within multilateralism, in the collective will of the [UN] member states”.

In 2016, Sri Lanka co-sponsored 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”.

 

Before the negotiations

Sri Lanka was among 127 states that endorsed a “humanitarian pledge” in 2015–16 to cooperate “in efforts to stigmatise, prohibit, and eliminate nuclear weapons”. The pledge was instrumental in building momentum and support for convening the TPNW negotiations.

[PARTNERS]

Child Rehabilitation Centre

website


Forum on Disarmament and Development

Sri Lankan Doctors for Peace and Development

website


Sri Lanka Nature Group

website

[LOCALSUPPORT]

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  • Child Rehabilitation Centre

    website

  • Forum on Disarmament and Development
  • Sri Lankan Doctors for Peace and Development

    website

  • Sri Lanka Nature Group

    website