Nuclear NPT
Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty
The Nuclear Non Proliferation treaty aims to limit the proliferation of nuclear weapons and encourage disarmament and the right to peacefully use nuclear technology. It came into force on 5th March, 1970 and there are 189 states party to the treaty. The treaty is reviewed every five years in meetings called Review Conferences. Even though the treaty was originally conceived with a limited duration of 25 years, the signing parties decided, by consensus, to extend the treaty indefinitely and without conditions during the Review Conference in 1995.
Each nuclear-weapons state undertakes not to transfer, to any recipient, nuclear weapons, or other nuclear explosive devices, and not to assist any non-nuclear weapon state to manufacture or acquire such weapons or device. Each non-NWS party undertakes to conclude an agreement with the IAEA (International Atomic energy Agency) for the application of its safeguards to all nuclear material in all of the state's peaceful nuclear activities and to prevent diversion of such material to nuclear weapons. All parties should participate in the exchange of scientific and technological information for the use of nuclear energy.
There are five states that are recognised as nuclear weapon states that are part of the treaty- The United States, France, United Kingdom, China and Russia (also members of the United Nations Security Council). There are four non parties to the treaty that are known to possess nuclear weapons- India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea.
India refused to sign the treaty because in India's view, the fact that the NPT has been extended may not be commensurate with India’s longer term strategic interests. The treaty permanently legitimizes the continued possession by nuclear weapon states of stockpiles and divides the countries into a group of nuclear ‘haves’ and a larger group of nuclear ‘have nots’ by restricting the legal possession of nuclear weapons to those states that tested them before 1967. It does so without any binding commitment from these nations to strive for the goal that India and others share - the complete elimination of nuclear weapons. Also, one of the other reasons that India refused to sign the treaty is because China is one of the nuclear ‘haves.’ China exploded its first weapon in 1964, and India did so in 1974. The NPT went into effect between those dates. Also, under its terms, China became recognised as one of the world's five 'weapon states'. Instead of relinquishing even the minimal nuclear deterrent, India chose not to join the NPT, considering the perceived strategic challenges from China and Pakistan. International efforts to build a stronger non-proliferation regime had the effect of leaving India out. Australia for example, has recently refused to ship Uranium supplies to India because India is not a signatory of the NPT. As a result, India’s response is that of self-reliance and it continues its dual policy of maintaining a small nuclear deterrent while pursuing peaceful nuclear power on a large scale.
