-
- UN chief Antonio Guterres appealed to eight nations, including India and the US, to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT
- It is a multilateral treaty banning all nuclear explosions for both military and civilian purposes.
- It was negotiated at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. It was opened for signature on 24 September 1996.
- The CTBT with its 183 signatories and 163 ratifications is one of the most widely supported arms-control treaties.
- It can only enter into force after it is ratified by eight countries with nuclear technology capacity, namely China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and the United States.
- Only North Korea, has broken the norms, which had led to condemnation from the Security Council and repeated imposition of sanctions.
- The Treaty establishes a CTBT Organization (CTBTO), located in Vienna, to ensure the implementation of its provisions, including provisions for international verification measures
- India did not support the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1996 and still does not due to following reasons: –Complete Nuclear Disarmament: India’s principled opposition drew from its emphasis on universal and complete nuclear disarmament in a time
-bound manner. CTBT does not address complete disarmament.
– Discriminatory in Nature: UNSC permanent members have little marginal utility in testing further. They have
– already conducted nuclear tests and possess nuclear weapons. For India, CTBT would only act as hindrance for conducting nuclear test and developing their technology
-
- Security threat: India faces uncertain dangers from Pakistan, and China, which had conducted nuclear tests even while the CTBT was being negotiated.
- As party to the CTBT, India would be waiving the possibility of testing and developing its own nuclear weapons whereas China would be able to retain its arsenal as per the NPT. Pakistan has not signed this treaty whereas China has not ratified till now.
WhatsApp