South Africa was on Thursday unanimously confirmed as the next chair of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, for the period 2007 to 2008, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement issued from Vienna.
The decision was taken at a consultative meeting of the group held in Vienna.
South Africa was represented at the meeting by ambassador Abdul Minty.
”South Africa welcomes the confidence placed in it by the full membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group as a recognition of the country’s non-proliferation and disarmament credentials,” the statement said.
The Nuclear Suppliers Group was established in 1975 and is composed of 45 countries across the world considered as suppliers of nuclear items.
The objectives of the Nuclear Suppliers Group are to ensure that nuclear transfers of items for peaceful purposes are not diverted to unsafe and unguarded nuclear activities or nuclear weapons. — Sapa