News Highlight
The tenth review conference of the parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) concluded last week.
Key Takeaway
- The year 2022 marks 52 years of a treaty that every speaker described as the “cornerstone of the global nuclear order.“
What is the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)?
- The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty.
- The treaty was signed in 1968 and entered into force in 1970.
- Presently, it has 191 member states.
- India is not a member.
- The NPT was negotiated to reconcile three competing objectives:
- First, controlling the spread of nuclear weapons beyond the P5 countries (the U.S., the U.S., Russia, the U.K., France, and China).
- Second, they are committing to negotiating reductions of nuclear arsenals, leading to their elimination.
- Third, Sharing benefits of peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology.
Successes of the NPT
- Establishment of Regional Nuclear Weapon-free Zones:
- Regional nuclear-weapon-free zones are not a requirement set out in the NPT. But, when the treaty was negotiated, the Tlatelolco Treaty (Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean) came into existence. Article VII anticipated this and prepared the way for other regional nuclear-weapon-free zones.
- So far, free zones have come into existence in Southeast Asia, the Pacific, Africa, and Central Asia, and in the case of the state of Mongolia.
- Prevented the proliferation to developed countries:
- NPT prevented the proliferation of nuclear weapons to those developed countries like Canada and Germany etc. they are capable of developing such nuclear capability.
- A blueprint:
- The treaty provided the blueprint of rules and regulations that should be applied for dealing with nuclear technology. It made proliferation among aggressive countries difficult. It took decades for a few other countries to acquire technology.
- It enables peaceful usage:
- It provided access to nuclear technology for peaceful usages, such as energy.
The weakness of the NPT
- The proliferation of nuclear weapons:
- After 1970, when the treaty came into effect, four more countries acquired nuclear weapons. These were India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea.
- Failure of nuclear disarmament:
- Nuclear disarmament was one of its objectives during its inception. But no meaningful discussions or negotiations on nuclear disarmament have occurred in the NPT framework.
- The nuclear arms race:
- The security dilemma leads to the nuclear arms race because of the perception that possessing atomic weapons gives a sense of security.
- Nuclear ‘Haves’ and ‘Have-Nots’:
- Generally criticises the treaty as discriminatory as it focuses on preventing only horizontal proliferation while there is no limit for vertical proliferation.
- Horizontal proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons to new countries. In contrast, vertical proliferation refers to nation-states possessing nuclear weapons and increasing their stockpiles of these weapons.
- Discriminating Safeguards:
- Under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) protocols of nuclear safety, the Nuclear Weapon State (NWS) was allowed to maintain ‘voluntary’ safeguards while the rest were subjected to comprehensive safeguards, which seemed intrusive and discriminatory to the Non-Nuclear Weapon States (NNWS).
- The Emergence of Non-state Actors:
- The emergence of non-state actors with declared intent to access weapons of mass destruction and the detection of a global nuclear black market has raised concerns about the limitations of the NPT.
Content Source: The Hindu