Page 67 - MDOS2_Final

THE ROAD TAKEN AND A BATON TO PASS

All these perspectives rushed through my head, contextualised into a thought
and converged towards a deep conviction. After all, I had to be guided by
the wish of the States Parties, as conveyed during the meeting. My role as
the Chair was as the facilitator of the process, without imposing my own
country’s position or personal preference.

Realising this indisputable fact, I gently responded to the Secretariat staf ,
“Please proceed with an issuance of the Chair’s Summary”. As expected,
delegations particularly from the nuclear-weapon states who did not agree
with certain elements contained in the Chair’s Summary, such as those
pertaining to nuclear weapons disarmament and non-proliferation, openly
criticised my approach. T e non-nuclear-weapon states, on the other
hand, lauded the issuance of the Chair’s Summary, which contained many
important points including a principled stance against continued possession
of nuclear weapons.

In hindsight, it is commendable that the NPT has been in existence for
51 years. T e past few decades have witnessed great ef orts to reduce the
number of nuclear weapons towards their total elimination. Despite all
that, the ultimate goal has yet to be attained. T e issue is anything but easy,
compounded by a long list of complicated factors. After all, the international
geopolitical dynamics are not getting any simpler by the day.

It is hoped that my modest ef orts in serving as the Chair of the T ird NPT
PrepCom, on behalf of Malaysia, contributed positively to the multilateral
discourse towards establishing a world without nuclear weapons. While
nuclear weapons might not be entirely abolished during my lifetime, it
remains a sacred cause that needs to be continuously fought for. As depicted
by the exhibitions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the threats of nuclear weapons
are real, and humanity is at stake.

Sometimes, during my solitary moment, my mind is drawn back to the
moments and experiences of the f nal hour of the T ird NPT PrepCom.
Back then, the arduous ef orts and careful process culminated at a crossroad.
Guided by the courage and wisdoms of delegations, I was glad to be part of
the collective ef orts in f ghting against nuclear weapons.

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