Vol. 404 No. 1
58 Mr. T. Kitt asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government will make every effort to ensure that the upcoming Partial Test Ban Treaty Conference will be permitted to continue until it succeeds in its objective, namely the achievement of a comprehensive test ban.
The position of the Government in relation to a comprehensive test ban is clear and unequivocal. We believe that the conclusion of a comprehensive test ban is an urgent priority and we have repeatedly called for immediate progress towards that end. We recognise that in convening the partial test ban treaty amendment conference the promoters wish to advance the objective of a comprehensive test ban. We will participate in a constructive manner in this conference, which we hope will lead to a commitment by all states — including, most importantly, the nuclear-weapon states — to a comprehensive test ban treaty. At the same time we believe that the discussions at the Conference on Disarmament (CD) in Geneva offer the best prospects for agreement on a comprehensive test ban treaty. We hope that the partial test ban amendment conference will give impetus to the work underway in that forum.
The states parties to the partial test ban treaty have agreed that the second substantive session of the conference should be held from 7 to 18 January 1991. We hope that all participants at the conference will work constructively during that agreed period to advance agreement on this issue. We fully support the view that efforts must continue until the objective of a comprehensive test ban is reached, and as I said, the conference can give an important impetus towards this end. However we would not wish, at this stage, to pre-empt any decisions the participants at the conference may take regarding the forum for future consideration of the issue.
