UN Chief Guterres urges world to put nuclear test ban treaty into force

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the world to bring into force a treaty to ban all nuclear tests.

Guterres made the appeal in his message to mark International Day against Nuclear Tests, which falls on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Nuclear testing has long poisoned the planet's natural environment and the species and people who call it home, the UN chief said, noting that the International Day against Nuclear Tests represents "an alarm bell for the world to finally put in place a legally binding prohibition on all nuclear tests".

"With nuclear risks reaching new heights, now is the time for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty to come into full force, underpinned by an effective verification system," said Guterres.

"On this important day, I call on the world to act for the health and survival of people and planet alike," he said. "Let's ensure the end of testing now and forever, and consign nuclear weapons to history, once and for all."

On December 2, 2009, the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution to declare August 29 the International Day against Nuclear Tests.

The resolution was initiated to commemorate the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in Kazakhstan on August 29, 1991.

--IANS

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