India’s Stand on Nuclear Weapons

• 07 Oct 2020

Why in News

In the recent High-level Meeting to Commemorate and Promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons (26^th September 2020), India reiterated that nuclear weapons should be abolished in a step-by-step non-discriminatory process.

Key Points

• India remains committed to the policy of No First Use (NFU) against nuclear weapon states and non-use against non-nuclear-weapon states.
• The recent stand indicates that India has not revised its key principles regarding the NFU principle.
  
  • In 2019, the Defence Minister hinted at a possibility of changing the principle by declaring that ‘circumstances’ will determine the “No First Use” stance.
• India is a key partner in global efforts towards disarmament and strengthening the non-proliferation order.
• India believes that nuclear disarmament can be achieved through a step-by-step process underwritten by a universal commitment and an agreed multilateral framework after meaningful dialogues among all States possessing nuclear weapons, for building trust and confidence.

• The Conference on Disarmament (CD) remains the “world’s single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum” and India supports holding of negotiations on a Comprehensive Nuclear Weapons Convention at the CD.
• India also remains committed to negotiations regarding a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT) in the CD.
  
  • FMCT is a proposed international agreement that prohibits the production of two main components of nuclear weapons: highly-enriched Uranium and Plutonium.
  • The consultations under the treaty laid down the most appropriate arrangement to negotiate a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.
• Global Efforts:
  
  • The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the New START Treaty (between the USA and the Russian Federation) are few of the most important global efforts towards nuclear disarmament.
    
    • India has not signed NPT and CTBT.

International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons

• In 2013, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) declared 26^th September to be the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons (Nuclear Abolition Day).
• Objective: Total elimination of nuclear weapons through enhancing public awareness and education about the threat posed to humanity by nuclear weapons and the necessity for their total elimination.
• Achieving global nuclear disarmament is one of the oldest goals of the United Nations.
• The UNGA resolution establishing the day, also calls for progress on a nuclear weapons convention, a global treaty involving the nuclear-armed states in the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons under strict and effective international control.

Source: TH