At the outset, please allow me to congratulate you on your election to preside over this important conference. Your election to this high office is an indication of the trust and confidence the international community has placed in you and your country. I am confident that with your vast knowledge, experience and diplomatic skill, you will guide the work of this conference to a successful conclusion. In the same vein, allow me also to congratulate the other members of the Bureau on their election.

Mr. President,

Five decades have passed since the first nuclear weapon was exploded. It is thirty years since the Non- Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT) was established and five years since its indefinite extension. The hopes generated by the end of the cold war and the easing of tension between the then two super powers may not have produced the results that we all have hoped for. Yet, the great strides that have been made towards nuclear disarmament and arms control, both bilaterally and multilaterally, during this span of more than half a century cannot be denied. Indeed, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) has become a reality. Several nuclear weapon-free-zones have been declared and negotiations on establishing more zones are continuing. The number of nuclear weapons has been almost halved and the world's military expenditure has declined by about 30 percent during the last two decades alone. START II has finally been ratified paving the way for negotiations on a START III, with the promise of more meaningful reductions in the future.

However, Mr. President, even with all these positive developments, the situation in the nuclear disarmament arena cannot be categorized as a very promising one. Hundreds of nuclear warheads, capable of destroying the entire world in a matter of minutes remain still deployed. Similarly, research production and testing of new weapons systems continue unabated. More sophisticated methods of destruction and new ambitious weapons programmes are being developed and pursued. No progress has been made on negotiating a fissile material cut-off treaty. Moreover, the threat of nuclear terrorism that looms over us cannot be ignored.

Mr. President,

The Maldives attaches great significance to the NPT. By becoming a party to the Treaty, we have demonstrated the importance we attach to nonproliferation and nuclear disarmament. We sincerely believe that there is a vertical or horizontal, must be steadfastly observed. Accordingly, the Maldives has fully associated itself with all the relevant resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly that subscribe to this view. We have signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and will soon ratify it. In this context, we would like to call upon others who have not yet joined the CTBT to do so as soon as possible, and without any conditions.

Mr. President,

The relationship between disarmament and development cannot be over emphasized. The Maldives cannot understand the rationale in spending billions of dollars on developing weapons of mass destruction when millions of our fellow human beings are plagued by poverty, hunger, malnutrition and disease. We, therefore, call upon those concerned to divert funds from building their military might towards the eradication of poverty and disease the world over. We also would like to reiterate the call to the international community to devote part of the resources made available by the implementation of disarmament and arms limitation agreements to economic and social development, with a view to reducing the ever-widening gap between the developed and developing countries.

Mr. President,

In conclusion, allow me to reiterate once again our firm commitment to the NPT and to nuclear disarmament. We will do everything we can to further the cause of global disarmament. We believe that a firm and unwavering commitment to the NPT is essential if the international community is to achieve the objectives of the Treaty. Unless such commitments are realised, our hopes for a nuclear weapon free world may not be achieved.

Thank you.