Bangladesh
Addressing the First Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW (1MSP) in Vienna in June 2022, Bangladesh stated: ‘We must now redouble our efforts for full and effective implementation of the Treaty … At the same time, we must relentlessly work for universal adherence.’[1]
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compliance in 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compliant |
| Test | Compliant | |
| Possess or stockpile | Compliant | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compliant |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compliant |
| (d) | Use | Compliant |
| Threaten to use | Compliant | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Compliant |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compliant |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compliant |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Voted yes (2022) |
| Participated in 1MSP (2022) | Yes |
| 1MSP delegation size (% women) | 6 (0%) |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Voted yes |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Voted yes |
| Other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) treaties | |
|---|---|
| Party to an NWFZ | No |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 1979) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2000, Annex 2 state) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Acceded 1985) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1997) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | No |
| Additional Protocol | Yes |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
At the Tenth Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in August 2022, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, A. K. Abdul Momen, said that Bangladesh’s ratification of the TPNW demonstrated its ‘unflinching commitment to the total elimination of nuclear weapons’. He welcomed the Treaty’s entry into force in 2021 and the adoption of ‘its landmark 50-point Vienna action plan’, and added: ‘We believe the TPNW will serve as a critical component in strengthening the NPT … We call upon states that are yet to join TPNW to do so without any delay, to attain universal application of this Treaty. We would like to see, as a matter of priority, its full implementation by all, including the nuclear-weapon-possessing states and nuclear-umbrella states.2
In a closing statement to the NPT Review Conference, Bangladesh and 64 other TPNW supporters urged ‘all states committed to attain and maintain a world without nuclear weapons to join the TPNW without delay’.3
During the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly in September 2022, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, highlighted her country’s ratification of the TPNW in 2019 as evidence of its full commitment ‘to complete disarmament’.4
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2022, Bangladesh said: ‘Our position towards nuclear weapons is unambiguously clear. We believe that these weapons secure no one; instead, they endanger everyone’s security. Hence, the ultimate guarantee of security lies only in the total elimination of nuclear weapons. It was from that conviction we ratified the [TPNW].’5
Recommendations
- Bangladesh should continue to encourage other states to adhere to the TPNW.
- Bangladesh should ensure that all the TPNW obligations are implemented domestically, through legal, administrative, and other necessary measures.