Malaysia joins the Ban Treaty

Malaysia has become the 46th state to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons after it confirmed ratification at the United Nations on Wednesday 30 September.

Malaysia becomes the fourth member of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to join the Treaty, joining Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. The Philippines is expected to join shortly after legislators voted to do the same.

By joining the Treaty Malaysia is contributing to the goal of a world free nuclear weapons
Hishammuddin Hussein – Foreign Minister of Malaysia 

In a statement to the United Nations following the adoption of the treaty, Malaysia argued that “the political and legal impact of this treaty will steer the international community collectively towards the elimination of nuclear weapons”. It also noted that the treaty “sends a powerful political message that nuclear weapons are categorically unacceptable”.

The Treaty was agreed by the United Nations in July 2017 after negotiations last several months. 122 states voted in favour of the Treaty at the final stage and since then many votes at the United Nations have confirmed the position of the international community in opposing nuclear weapons. The Treaty will ban nuclear weapons on the ground of their humanitarian consequences, in the same way that chemical and biological weapons have previously been banned. Four further states are required to ratify the Treaty before it will come into force.

Please join us as we thank God for this move by the Malaysian government and pray that the four more required states would join the Treaty soon. Also pray that the nuclear-armed states, including the UK, would engage with the Treaty.

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