[Source: Fijian Government / Facebook]

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has expressed his commitment to supporting a nuclear-free world, sharing some of his personal life experiences while addressing world leaders in New York.

He conveyed these remarks while delivering a joint statement of parties to the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty and the Pacific Islands Forum to the 10th Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons at the UN General Assembly in New York.

Bainimarama who is also Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum has called on nuclear states to implement their disarmament obligations and to join the wave of support towards creating a nuclear-free world.

Bainimarama says the commitment to a Pacific that is free of nuclear weapons is defining for our region.

He stated, this is a commitment that he has also made as a Prime Minister, but it is also a personal commitment that he has made as a son as he has waited a lifetime for someone to take responsibility for deliberately exposing his late father, Ratu Inoke Bainimarama, and the sailors he commanded, to the testing of a nuclear bomb.

Bainimarama urged states with nuclear weapons to put forward comprehensive and transparent reports on their disarmament efforts, and it must be designed to point away from any new technology that would make these weapons more effective, efficient, powerful, or easier for more parties to acquire.

The Prime Minister, in his address, represented Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Fiji.

The Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, or NPT, is a landmark international treaty to prevent the increase of nuclear weapons and promote cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama at the UN General Assembly in New York.