KATHMANDU, Nov 10: Nepal has become the 177th state party of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction after formally depositing the Instrument of Ratification by Nepal in Washington D.C on November 4, said a press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here on Thursday.

The governments of the United Kingdom, United States of America and the Russian Federation are the depositories of the Convention.

Nepal had signed the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) on 10 April 1972.

It may be noted that Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat had formally tabled the proposal for ratification of the Biological Weapons Convention before the Legislature Parliament of Nepal on 18 October this year. Earlier, the Council of Ministers had decided on 1 January to proceed with ratification of the BWC in accordance with national laws.

Subsequently, the Legislature-Parliament had considered the proposal and ratified the Convention on 23 October, added the Ministry.

A Nepali delegation led by Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Deepak Dhital, is participating, for the first time as the state party, in the Eighth Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) taking place in Geneva from 7 to 25 November 2016.

The ratification of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) represents the expression of Nepal's strong belief in general and completes disarmament of all weapons of mass destruction including biological, chemical, nuclear and radiological weapons in a time-bound manner. RSS

 
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