DR takes advantage of UN stage to expand diplomatic relations with Africa and Asia
The Dominican Republic is expanding its relations in Africa and Eurasia and during his presence in this city the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Roberto Alvarez, signed agreements to establish diplomatic relations with the republics of Togo, Sierra Leone, Rwanda and Madagascar, with which the country seeks to strengthen its ties of cooperation and friendship.
He also signed with Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi, an agreement to establish diplomatic relations with Kazakhstan, a country of the central region of Eurasia, in a ceremony held at the headquarters of that nation’s mission to the UN.
The other agreements were signed by Foreign Minister Alvarez with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Sierra Leone, David J. Francis; the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of
Rwanda, Vincent Biruta; the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Togo, Robert Dussey, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Madagascar, Richard Randriamandrato.
A Memorandum of Understanding was also initialed with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic of Greece, Nikos Dendias, regarding the establishment of a Mechanism for Political Consultations.
Álvarez affirmed that “with this agenda completed in New York, we are making progress in the implementation of the Dominican Government’s foreign policy and especially in materializing axis two, referring to the promotion of exports, attraction of investment, as well as generating greater opportunities for cooperation. Also, during these exchanges we have highlighted the Dominican capacity in tourism, especially the leadership and positioning of the country in the world”.
So far, the country had 40 diplomatic ties with African countries, most of them developed in the last two decades. It also has three diplomatic headquarters in the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Republic of South Africa and the Kingdom of Morocco; it is also an observer member of the African Union and the Arab League.
The diplomatic agenda included bilateral meetings of the Dominican Foreign Minister with Armenia, India, Maldives and Venezuela. While the Vice Minister of Multilateral Foreign Policy, Rubén Silié, held meetings with Kosovo and Georgia.
Ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)
In the framework of the UN Assembly, by virtue of the Dominican Republic’s firm commitment to international peace and security, as well as to a world free of nuclear weapons, the Vice Minister of Multilateral Foreign Policy, Rubén Silié, deposited before the UN Under-Secretary General for Legal Affairs and UN Legal Counsel, Miguel de Serpa Soares, the instrument of ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPAN), signed by President Luis Abinader, bringing the total number of States Parties to 68.
The NPT, an agreement adopted in 2017 and which entered into force in January 2021, is the first multilateral treaty to fully ban nuclear weapons. It is also the first to address the humanitarian consequences associated with the testing and use of nuclear weapons.
In an increasingly complex and turbulent international context, and in the face of the latent risk of a possible nuclear attack, it underscores our conviction that the only guarantee against the use of these indiscriminate weapons is their prohibition and total elimination.
The Permanent Mission of the Dominican Republic to the UN
The Permanent Mission of the Dominican Republic to the UN, headed by Ambassador José Blanco, has played an important role in the context of the General Assembly of this organization, which includes a daily effort to negotiate and approve resolutions, discuss issues related to national interests, promote initiatives aimed at defending and protecting essential values such as human rights and the protection of the environment, as well as contributing to better understanding the realities of the developing world of which we are a part.
Minister Roberto Álvarez highlighted “the work of this Mission in promoting rapprochement with regions of the rest of the world, in an inclusive process, which is resulting in the establishment of diplomatic relations with countries with which our country had not maintained any kind of link in the past”.
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