Sri Lanka ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), becoming the 178th state to endorse the treaty, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says.

The instrument of ratification of CTBT, the document by which a State expresses its consent to be bound by the treaty, was deposited with the UN Office of Legal Affairs (UNOLA) on Tuesday (July 25) at the UN Headquarters in New York.

By depositing the CTBT instrument of ratification, Sri Lanka’s status as a signatory is elevated to a complete State Party to the Treaty.

Drafted at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, and adopted by the General Assembly on 10 September 1996, the CTBT has been open for signature since 24 September 1996 at the United Nations, New York.

Sri Lanka was among the first signatories of the CTBT in October 1996, just days after the Treaty opened for signature.

Sri Lanka later entered into a Facility Agreement with the CTBTO in June 2000 which led to the establishment of an auxiliary seismological station in Pallekale, Kandy, as part of the International Monitoring System (IMS) to verify compliance with the CTBT.

The Geological Survey & Mines Bureau is the national technical focal point of Sri Lanka for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) based in Vienna, Austria.

The CTBT bans all nuclear explosions everywhere, by everyone, and for all time. The Treaty is nearly universal, with 186 Signatory States and 178 ratifying states. However, the Treaty will only enter into force, once it is ratified by all 44 States listed in its Annex 2.

Sri Lanka’s ratification at this juncture bears testimony to its long-standing commitment towards nuclear non-proliferation and its pursuit to achieve the principle objectives of the CTBT.