New Delhi, September 25: With the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passing a resolution on Thursday calling for global nuclear disarmament, India is likely to come under increased pressure to sign on the dotted line on a slew of international non-proliferation agreements, including the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
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The UNSC resolution, which calls on all non-NPT states to sign the treaty, is not a surprise as there have been signals from Washington for some time now that non-proliferation is on top of US president Barack Obama’s agenda. However, with Obama taking the unusual step of chairing the Security Council meeting himself, it is clear that he means business.
Analysts here are divided on the implications of the resolution for the nuclear benefits won by India through the Indo-US nuclear deal. Some believe that the visible expression of determination by Obama could sound the death-knell for the deal. The deal gave India backdoor entry into the NPT regime as a nuclear weapons state and permitted it to trade in nuclear technology through an unconditional waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
Others feel that the special status granted to India will stand as the Indo-US agreement was something former US president George Bush came up with as a way to bypass the obligations imposed by the NPT.
India has stuck to its guns and refused to sign the NPT. In a letter submitted to the UN by India’s permanent representative Hardeep Puri, New Delhi reiterates its old position. “India’s position on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is well-known. We cannot accept any obligations arising from treaties that India has not signed or ratified.
This position is consistent with the fundamental principles of international law and the Law of Treaties. India cannot accept calls for universalisation of the NPT,” the letter said. Among other things, the UNSC resolution asks all states to refrain from conducting nuclear tests and ratify the CTBT.
It also seeks talks on framing a treaty to ban the production of fissile material for atomic weapons.
In his speech, Obama spoke of the dangers of nuclear war. “Although we averted a nuclear nightmare during the Cold War, we now face proliferation of a scope and complexity that demands new strategies and new approaches. Just one nuclear weapon exploded in a city, be it New York or Moscow, Tokyo or Beijing, London or Paris, could kill hundreds of thousands of people,” he warned.
Obama said the “Security Council has both the authority and responsibility to respond to violations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.”
Though the resolution is primarily targeted at Iran and North Korea, the impact will be felt by India, Pakistan and Israel as well – three nations which have refused to come on board. Israel has a face-saver in the sense that it has not formally declared its nuclear capabilities.
India’s has reiterated its stand that it will retain its nuclear weapons. “Nuclear weapons are an integral part of India’s national security and will remain so, pending non-discriminatory and global nuclear disarmament,” Puri’s letter to the UN said.
Puri pointed out a statement made by prime minister Manmohan Singh to parliament on
July 29, 2009, affirming that there was no question of India joining the NPT as a non-nuclear weapons state.
But New Delhi remains committed to a voluntary, unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing. “We do not subscribe to any arms race, including a nuclear arms race. We always tempered the exercise of our strategic autonomy with a sense of global responsibility. We affirm our policy of no-first-use of nuclear weapons.”
–IANS–