Historic and augurs well for the future of humanity, says Dalai Lama on UN treaty to ban nuclear weapons

DHARAMSALA, 27 Oct:  The Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama has lauded the ratification of the United Nations’ Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons hailing it “as an act of universal responsibility that recognises the fundamental oneness of humanity.”

“This is indeed historic and augurs well for the future of humanity. It is a step in the right direction to finding more enlightened and civilized arrangements for resolving conflicts,” the Tibetan Nobel Laureate has said in a statement.

The Dalai Lama, who has long campaigned for the elimination of all nuclear weapons has further said that the treaty would “contribute to even more concerted efforts to do away with these dreadful weapons and secure genuine and lasting peace in our world” and that “a nuclear-free world is in everyone’s interest.”

“The reality today is we need to rely on mutual understanding and dialogue to resolve conflicts. Therefore, I take the opportunity to urge all governments to work to implement this treaty, so that the world becomes a safer place for us all,” the Dalai Lama said.

Honduras became the fiftieth country to ratify the landmark Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), the UN announced earlier on Saturday. 

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ spokesman has said is a statement that “the Secretary-General commends the States that have ratified the Treaty and salutes the work of civil society, which has been instrumental in facilitating the negotiation and ratification of the Treaty.”

He has further stated that the treaty, which will now come into force from January next year “is the culmination of a worldwide movement to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons.”

It represents a meaningful commitment towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons, which remains the highest disarmament priority of the United Nations. 

The treaty binds all the 50 countries to “never under any circumstances develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.” 

However, Britain, China, France, Russia and the US -five countries with most nuclear warheads – are not signatory to the treaty.