BANGLADESH INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

The Australian High Commissioner Dr Justin Lee and the Minister of the Japanese Embassy Mr Harumitsu Hida handed over the final report of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND) to Major General Sheikh Md Monirul Islam, ndc, psc, the Director General of the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) in a ceremony at BIISS Auditorium on 17 December 2009.

The ICNND's report was launched by Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in Tokyo on 15 December 2009. It is intended to reinvigorate global debate on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.

Director General, BIISS, Major General Sheikh Md Monirul Islam, ndc, psc, Chairman of the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission Dr Mosharraf Hossain, and Director of the UN Wing at the Foreign Ministry Nahida Sobhan, all attended the ICNND's South Asia regional meeting in New Delhi in October 2009.

At the handover ceremony Dr Lee explained the report was the work of an independent commission established by the Australian and Japanese government, and it did not reflect the policy position of any government. The report is intended to stimulate debate and provide forward looking options and possibilities for consideration.