This must be achieved by way of a comprehensive and balanced action plan that addresses the security concerns of all Member States and that does not prioritize any one of the four core issues on the Conference agenda to the detriment of the others. Given that the measures hitherto taken by the nuclear States to reduce their arsenals have been insufficient, there is a pressing need to commence negotiations on a phased programme towards the complete elimination of nuclear weapons that would result in a convention prohibiting the development, production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons leading to their complete and universal destruction, without discrimination and within a specific framework of time. We are of the view that the establishment of a subsidiary body in the framework of the Conference on Disarmament for this purpose could be a genuinely effective step on the path to nuclear disarmament, particularly as the continued stockpiling of nuclear weapons in the arsenals of a limited number of States will only fuel tension, spur on the arms race and perpetuate the threat of their use.