Kishida to attend NPT review conference in New York

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will visit New York from July 31 through August 1 to attend the Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), where he will deliver a speech at the general debate, Japan's Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

It will be the first time a Japanese prime minister has attended an NPT Review Conference.

"In his speech, Prime Minister Kishida will demonstrate Japan's position attaching importance to the NPT, while calling for constructive contribution by the States Parties to maintain and strengthen the NPT regime," the ministry said in a statement.

Kishida's itinerary also includes a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The NPT is a landmark international treaty designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.

The treaty entered into force in 1970 and a total of 191 states have joined it, including the five nuclear-weapon states.

(CGTN)