UN General Assembly
1998

many times by the United States of America to end the stagnation of the peace process, for which Mr. Netanyahu?s Government is principally responsible. Let us hope that peace will have a better chance this time. One of the main items on our agenda is the strengthening of the non-proliferation regime and the banning of nuclear tests. In this connection, the Republic of Benin welcomes the decision by India and Pakistan to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). We have no particular lesson for those two great countries, which are our friends. But it is clear to us that the possession of atomic bombs cannot offer either of them a lasting victory; only a prosperous country and people can confer that. Humanity will continue to be under threat until the current stockpile of nuclear weapons is destroyed. The major nuclear Powers must today admit this self-evident truth. While nuclear weapons pose a permanent danger to us all, small arms in my country sow permanent insecurity and hamper our economic development efforts.