Staff- Correspondent: Rabab Fatima, Bangladesh's Ambassador to the United Nations, has called for the implementation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. At the same time,she reaffirmed Bangladesh's commitment to building a world free of nuclear weapons. She made the pledge at a ceremony at the United Nations.

Bangladesh joined the international community at a joint virtual event held simultaneously in New York, Geneva and Vienna on Saturday (January 23rd) to the entry into the force of the landmark Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

Ambassador Rabab Fatima, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations, spoke on the occasion. Ambassador Fatima quoted Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's address at the UN General Assembly in 1974 to free the world from the scourges of nuclear war.

She said Bangladesh was among the first 50 signatories to the treatyit it was from that unwavering constitutional commitment that Bangladesh was among the first 50 countries to join this historic treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons, addig, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been a strong global voice and advocate for nuclear disarmament.

She further mentioned Bangladesh signed the Treaty on September 20, 2017; and ratified it on September 26, 2019,. Highlighting the inhumane and destructive consequences of nuclear weapons, Ambassador Fatima called on countries that are yet to sign it.

Citing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's call for peaceful use of nuclear technology, Ambassador Fatima said more investment should be made in nuclear technology research. She also called for continued global efforts to raise awareness against nuclear weapons for a peaceful and nuclear-free world.

She said Bangladesh will always be committed to achieve this global goal. The Permanent Representative of Bangladesh pays deep respects to the survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, who have contributed to the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons, and to those who have worked tirelessly for nuclear disarmament.

Ambassador Fatima also paid deep tribute to all the victims of nuclear radiation and the survivors of their wounds. This is the first international agreement to ban the use, development, testing, production, stockpiling, establishment, transfer and threat of nuclear weapons by the signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (TPNW).

So far, the treaty has been signed by 86 countries and ratified by 51.. The event was co-organized by Austria, Brazil, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Ireland, Mexico, Nigeria, New Zealand, South Africa and Thailand.

Heads of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Coalition to Abyss Nuclear Weapons, among others, spoke on the occasion. The UN Secretary General sent a video message on the occasion.