Nuclear-free world can become a reality only if all countries and peoples join efforts - N. Nazarbayev

To my mind, the article of the Head of our State "Global Peace and Nuclear Security" published on April 2, 2010 in the Russian newspaper Izvestia clearly shows the world a pattern of leadership of such an integrated leadership of Nursultan Nazarbayev, the President combining intellectual innovations and traditionalist authority.

As a leader of the country voluntarily abandoned the powerful nuclear arsenal Nursultan Abishevich has a moral right to declare that the approaches to the problem of nonproliferation need major revision. Several decades of operation of the Nuclear Weapons Non-Proliferation Treaty is ample time to assess its strengths and weaknesses and make adjustments that meet modern requirements. In this context and on the threshold of the coming Global Summit on Nuclear Security in Washington the Kazakh President's article is timely and very topical.

Emphasizing the nuclear nonproliferation as an imperative of modern epoch N. Nazarbayev notes that the situation in the field of non-proliferation is far from ideal. "The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty disappoints, as long as it is asymmetrical and provides sanctions to non-nuclear states only. It does not contain explicit schemes of response by the IAEA and the UN to the facts of the states' evasion of admission of international inspectors to nuclear facilities. Moreover, the Treaty allows its participants to withdraw from the list of signatories without consequences."

The Head of the State expresses concern over a large amount of surplus fissile materials quite suitable for making nuclear explosive devices, which under certain circumstances may fall into the hands of terrorists and cause serious interstate conflicts. As a solution to the problem N. Nazarbayev suggests establishing an International Training Center for Nuclear Security in Kazakhstan. According to him, the Center could strengthen the potential of Central Asia in the field of modernization of the export and internal control, accounting and material protection.

Following the peaceful foreign policy course Kazakhstan successfully cooperates with the IAEA, the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Krakow Initiative, the Zangger Committee and the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, the article reads. At the same time the author expresses regret that some quite influential countries have so far refrained from signing and ratifying the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. As a result such situation allows official nuclear states to continue testing nuclear weapons and "threshold" states with impunity work on their own missile and nuclear programs.

It is worth noting specific proposals of Nursultan Nazarbayev outlined in the article regarding the development of peaceful nuclear programs. The President supposes that "taking legal and vitally important for all mankind control measures in the sphere of nuclear security, the international community should not disregard the global trends in the field of energy and high technologies. Here, it is needed a reasonable balance between the global efforts on combating nuclear terrorism and legitimate from the standpoint of international law nuclear programs."

Nevertheless our President does not conceal the intention of Kazakhstan, which possesses large reserves of natural uranium, to exercise its legitimate right to developing peaceful nuclear program and readiness to take part together with Russia in establishing International Uranium Enrichment Centre (IUEC) in Angarsk. The article highlights that Kazakhstan absolutely understands and supports the idea on creation of the International Nuclear Fuel Bank under the aegis of the IAEA.

President Nazarbayev considers that the achieved success and expected progress in reducing strategic nuclear weapons must not lead to complacency, and even more so - to undue euphoria in circumstances when substantial stockpiles of tactical nuclear weapons are concentrated in different regions of the world. In this connection the President suggests immediately discussing the issue of the international legal status of nuclear-free zones, providing both security guarantees and corresponding preferences to the participating states.

So through his article "global Peace and Nuclear Security" Nursultan Abishevich once again draws attention of the world community, including the participants of the April Nuclear Security summit to the problems of nuclear-free world and calls for nuclear disarmament.