Monirul Alam :
The Executive Secretary to the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), Lassina Zerbo will arrive in the city tomorrow (Oct 3) to discuss Bangladesh’s initiatives regarding implementation of the deal and effective use of nuclear in development purposes.
His 3-day visit included the seeing the site of under construction Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant and meeting with Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology Md. Anwar Hossain. He will deliver speech on the spirit of establishment of the CTBTO and effective use of nuclear in development purposes at Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies. He will also be briefed of the data centre established under the monitoring station of CTBTO here.
At the conclusion, he will pay a courtesy call on Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali.
A statement issued from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday hoped that the CTBTO top official’s visit would make more visible the active position of Bangladesh in comprehensive Nuclear Test ban and global disarmament on these weapons.
“Besides, peaceful use of Nuclear for human well-being, research relating to improvement of science and technology, systems of weather forecast and earthquake and cyclone warnings will be strengthened,” it reads.
The foreign ministry said Bangladesh signed the treaty on September 20 last year (2017).
The same year, the country started developing the physical infrastructures for setting up nuclear power plant at Rooppur, some 87 miles (140 km) west of Dhaka, on the bank of the river Padma.
CTBTO is an international organization established by the States Signatories to the Treaty on 19 November 1996 and has its headquarters in Vienna, Austria. The relationship agreement between the United Nations and the CTBTO was adopted in 2000 by the General Assembly.
The objective of the organization is to achieve the object and purpose of the Treaty, to ensure the implementation of its provisions, including those for international verification of compliance with the Treaty, and to provide a forum for consultation and cooperation among Member States on use of nuclear.
In December 2009, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously declared 29 August as the International Day against Nuclear Tests.
According to the resolution establishing it, the International Day against Nuclear Tests aims to prevent more of the “devastating and harmful effects on the lives and health of people and the environment” caused by nuclear testing.
Another duty of the Commission is to establish a global verification regime to monitor compliance with the comprehensive ban on nuclear testing, which must be operational when the Treaty enters into force. The CTBTO has been also tasked to build up 321 monitoring stations and 16 radionuclide laboratories throughout the world. It also includes the provisional operation of an International Data Centre (IDC) and the preparation of on-site inspections in case of a suspected nuclear test.
According to foreign ministry statement, Bangladesh also signatory of all the global disarmament treaties such as Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), Concealed carry or carrying a concealed weapon (CCW), Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) and Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty (APMBT).
