Sri Lanka
The Cabinet of Ministers of Sri Lanka in December 2021 adopted a decision ‘to sign the [TPNW] and to initiate the applicable national legal formulation review with the objective of finalising the ratification process as soon as possible’.[1] No action was taken in 2022 in this regard.
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compatibility in 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (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 (2022) |
| Participated in 1MSP (2022) | 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 1979) |
| Ratified the CTBT | No (Signed 1996) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1976) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1994) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | No |
| Additional Protocol | No (Approved 2018) |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
Sri Lanka 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 Treaty, including in 2022.
Sri Lanka 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.
At the Tenth Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in August 2022, Sri Lanka said that the threat of nuclear weapons ‘is one of the most significant and pressing global challenges of our time’, and lamented the fact that nearly 13,000 such weapons exist in the world today, which it described as ‘the most destructive, inhumane, and indiscriminate weapons ever used’.2
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2022, Sri Lanka said: ‘Pursuing non-proliferation while ignoring nuclear disarmament creates two clubs of “nuclear haves” and “nuclear have-nots” and therefore is not sustainable.’3
Recommendations
- Sri Lanka should urgently adhere to the TPNW.
- Sri Lanka should bring into force its Additional Protocol with the IAEA.
- Sri Lanka should also ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban treaty (CTBT).