SL backed NFP resolution passed at UN

Sri Lanka was among the countries that have contributed to a resolution, which was approved at United Nations General Assembly on No First Placement of Weapons in Outer Space (NFP).

It was a continuation of the original Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS) resolution submitted by Egypt and Sri Lanka. The resolution is approved annually by a majority of UN member-states.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the continuation was proposed and introduced by Russia in October with the backing of China, Brazil, Indonesia, Belarus and several other countries and approved by the United Nations' Disarmament Committee.

The draft resolution was adopted during the assembly's 69th session with 126 votes in favour and four votes against. Georgia, Israel, Ukraine and the United States were the four countries that opposed the draft resolution.

"We consider the NFP initiative as an important step in the gradual progress towards the elaboration of a legally binding PPWT [Treaty on Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space and of the Threat or Use of Force against Outer Space Objects]," reads a statement issued by the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations.

One of the key elements outlined in the NFP initiative was a call for a speedy launch of negotiations at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva aimed at drafting and the adoption of a legally binding international agreement to prevent the placement of weapons in outer space, Sputnik News said.