Tenth NPT Review Conference

Recently, because of Russia's disagreement, the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference that was held in New York came to a close without adopting a meaningful conclusion.

Nuclear Proliferation Treaty

• The NPT is a global agreement whose main goals are to promote the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and their technology, promote the non-proliferation of nuclear energy, and advance the cause of disarmament.
• The agreement was concluded in 1968, and it became operative in 1970. It currently has 191 member countries.
• India is not a participant.
• In exchange for access to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, it requires nations to abandon all current or future ambitions to develop nuclear weapons.
• It serves as the only legally binding commitment in a multilateral treaty to the objective of nuclear-weapon States' disarmament.
• According to the NPT, nuclear-weapon states are those that produced and detonated a nuclear weapon or another nuclear explosive device before January 1, 1967.

India's Position:

• India is one of only five nations that either did not sign the NPT or signed it but later withdrew, joining the likes of Pakistan, Israel, North Korea, and South Sudan on this list.
• India has consistently refused to sign the NPT because it views it as discriminatory.
• Since the international agreements aimed at preventing nuclear proliferation only applied to certain non-nuclear nations and legitimized the five nuclear-armed states' monopolies, India has resisted them.

Concerns Arising Out of Russia’s Disagreement

• Both the Chornobyl nuclear plant, the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986, and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southeast Ukraine have been occupied, reigniting fears of a new nuclear calamity.
• Since the height of the Cold War and the deterioration of the worldwide security environment, the threat of the use of nuclear weapons is greater than it has ever been.
• By failing to reach a consensus on a concrete action plan with deadlines and performance indicators to adequately address the rising risks of the nuclear arms race and nuclear weapon use, this NPT conference represents a squandered opportunity to improve the treaty and international security.

India’s Nuclear Developments

• Historical Background: Homi J. Bhabha oversaw the beginning of India's nuclear program in the late 1940s.
• In May 1974 nuclear explosion was carried out by India.
• In May 1998, India conducted a number of nuclear tests to show that it could employ nuclear energy for military reasons.
• Following the 1998 nuclear tests, India announced a concept known as "No First Use" (NFU), which was formally implemented in January 2003.
• It states that only a nuclear strike on Indian soil or on Indian soldiers somewhere else will result in the use of nuclear weapons.
• Major Obstacle: In the immediate years following the Cold War, the US tried to halt India's nuclear and missile programs, which caused the latter country serious anxiety.
• India was subject to US economic penalties after the nuclear tests in May 1998.
• A framework that put an end to India's protracted dispute with the NPT system was developed by the historic India-US civil nuclear project in 2005, a few years after the sanctions.
• The agreement led to the division of India's nuclear civil and military programmes.
• India regained the freedom to expand its nuclear arsenal and begin civilian nuclear cooperation with the rest of the world after a few years of this agreement (which had been halted since India's first nuclear test in May 1974).
• Current Situation: In accordance with its Nuclear Doctrine, India finished the Nuclear Triad in 2018.
• A nuclear triad is a three-sided military force organisation made up of land-based nuclear missiles, submarines equipped with nuclear missiles, and strategic planes carrying nuclear weapons.
• It should be emphasized, nevertheless, that even over 15 years after the Indo-US Nuclear Deal, India has not purchased even a single nuclear reactor from the US.

Also, Read - Must Read - Nuclear Program Of India