Kuwait
Kuwait voted in favour of adopting the TPNW at the UN Diplomatic Conference in 2017 and has consistently voted in favour of the annual UN General Assembly resolutions on the TPNW, including in 2023. Kuwait maintains policies and practices that are compatible with all of the prohibitions in Article 1 of the TPNW, and can therefore sign and ratify or accede to the Treaty without the need for a change in conduct.
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compatibility in 2023 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compatible |
| Test | Compatible | |
| Possess or stockpile | Compatible | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compatible |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compatible |
| (d) | Use | Compatible |
| Threaten to use | Compatible | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Compatible |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compatible |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compatible |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Voted yes (2023) |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | No |
| 1MSP delegation size (% women) | N/A |
| 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 (Ratified 1989) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2003) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1972) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1997) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (7 Mar 2002) |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | Yes (Modified) |
| Additional Protocol | Yes |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2022, Kuwait welcomed the entry into force of the TPNW and the convening of its First Meeting of States Parties (1MSP) in Vienna. It stressed that the TPNW, rather than contradicting the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), is part of the process of fulfilling the NPT’s goals.1
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2023, Kuwait reiterated its ‘firm commitment to multilateral efforts as the best way to counter challenges related to disarmament and non-proliferation’. ‘We are bearing witness to an alarming arms race with global ramifications,’ it warned, ‘and nobody is sheltered from this threat.’2
Recommendations
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Kuwait should urgently adhere to the TPNW.