The Parliament of the Republic of Uzbekistan ratified the Treaty on Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone

The Parliament of the Republic of Uzbekistan adopted on 2 April 2007 the Law on ratification of the Treaty on Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone signed on September 8, 2006 in Semipalatinsk by the five Central Asian states – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The Treaty on the Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone in Central Asia demonstrates strong commitment of the Central Asian states to enforcing the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and also to the global Disarmament and Non-proliferation.
The initiative on establishing the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone was proposed by the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov at the 48th session of the UN General Assembly.
The significant step towards the implementation of this initiative was the adoption by the Heads of the States of the Central Asian countries the Almaty Declaration on 28 February 1997 followed by the ministerial statement issued at Tashkent on 15 September 1997 and the Communiqué issued on 10 July 1998 by the Bishkek Consultative Meeting.
Expert meetings aimed at drafting the instrument were held in Geneva, Sapporo, Samarkand and Tashkent. The UN Department for Disarmament and IAEA were actively involved in negotiations on the legal framework of the document.
Creating the Central Asian Nuclear-Free-Weapon-Zone was welcomed and strongly supported by the international community. On 6 December 2006 the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution “Establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia” with the support of the overwhelming majority of the Member-States.
The resolution welcomed the signing of the Treaty on Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone and emphasized its importance in strengthening the non-proliferation regime. It has also commended the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia as an effective contribution of the Central Asian states to combating international terrorism.