UN General Assembly
2011

I would like, on behalf of the Republic of Kazakhstan and on my own behalf, to congratulate Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon on his re-election to his high and responsible office. I should also like to congratulate the Ambassador of Qatar, Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, on his election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session. The Republic of Kazakhstan also congratulates the newest Member of the community of nations, the Republic of South Sudan, on gaining its independence. This year, our country celebrates the twentieth anniversary of its independence. During this entire time, Kazakhstan has faithfully complied with the letter and spirit of the United Nations Charter. First, we closed the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, the largest in the world, thereby becoming one of the world’s first new non-nuclear States. This represents an enormous contribution on the part of my country to global peace and stability. Secondly, we succeeded in convening the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), which I proposed 19 years ago in this forum. Today it includes participants from