On 19 September, the Bahamas officially signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), sending a signal of support, and Sri Lanka officially acceded to the treaty, meaning that it agreed to be bound by the TPNW, a much more serious step. (Usually countries ‘sign’ first and then ‘ratify’, but some countries skip the signing and go straight to the commitment level in one step: ‘accession’.)
This means that 97 states have now signed, ratified or acceded to the 2017 treaty, out of 193 members of the United Nations.
Topics: Nuclear weapons, nuclear ban treaty