The World’s 47 developed and developing countries came together in the recently concluded two-day Nuclear Summit in Washington that weapons of mass destruction should not fall in the hands of terror mongers, which would surely lead to the path of annihilation. This Summit may be taken as a positive move to ensure peace and tranquillity to the troubled world.
Interestingly the top nations which took part in the summit and advocated the control of nuclear weapons are well-equipped with nuclear arsenals. They are United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, Israel, Pakistan and India.
Earlier, countries made nuclear weapons for their protection but gradually it has become the most prominent sign of power.
If we browse through the pages of history, we can find a very interesting story behind it. It was the United States which first developed and used the atom bombs during the World War II. It was also the first nation to develop the hydrogen bomb.
Then came the Soviet Union, which tested its first nuclear weapon, Joe –1, in 1949, in a crash project developed partially with the help of knowhow obtained during and after the World War II.
The United Kingdom tested its first nuclear weapon, Hurricane, in 1952, drawing largely on data gained while collaborating with the United States. The United Kingdom was the third country in the world, after the USA and the USSR, to develop and test a nuclear weapon.
France tested its first nuclear weapon, Gerboise Bleue, in 1960, based mostly on its own research. And then came China which tested its first nuclear device in 1964 at the Lop Nur test site. This weapon was developed as a deterrent against both the United States and the Soviet Union.
So, when these five mighty nations strategically fulfilled their needs of nuclear weapons, they signed an agreement called Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), on July 1, 1967 in New York which came into force on March 5, 1970. The NPT is commonly described as having three main objectives: Non-Proliferation, Disarmament, and Peaceful Use of Nuclear activities, which in other words are restraining the other nations to develop nuclear weapons.
Later on India, Pakistan, and Israel gauged the situation and declined to sign the NPT. These countries pleaded that the NPT creates a club of nuclear haves and a larger group of nuclear have-nots by restricting the legal possession of nuclear weapons to those states that developed and tested them before 1967.
Pakistan is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It covertly developed nuclear weapons over many decades, beginning in the late 1970s. The United States continued to certify that Pakistan did not possess nuclear weapons until 1990.
India, also a non-signatory of NPT, tested what it called a peaceful nuclear device in 1974. It is noteworthy that the nuclear tests of India and Pakistan were the first ones after the creation of NPT.
North Korea was a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but announced a withdrawal on January 10, 2003, after the United States accused it of having a secret uranium enrichment programme and cut off to it energy assistance under the 1994 Agreed Framework. In February 2005 it was claimed that North Korea had functional nuclear weapons, though absence of a test led many experts to doubt the claim. However, in October 2006, North Korea stated that due to growing intimidation by the USA, it would conduct a nuclear test to confirm its nuclear status. North Korea reported a successful nuclear test on October 9, 2006.
Israel is not a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and refuses to officially confirm or deny having a nuclear arsenal, or having developed nuclear weapons, or even having a nuclear weapons programme. Israel has pledged not to be the first country to introduce nuclear weapons into the region, but is also pursuing a policy of strategic ambiguity with regard to their possession. Nuclear experts are convened that Israel must be in possession of 50-100 Nuclear devices.
So currently the world has an estimated stockpile of 23,375 nuclear bombs which are under possession of Russia (13,000), United States (9,400) France (300), China (240), United Kingdom (185), Pakistan (70-90), India (60-80), North Korea (10) and Israel (50-100). Israel which has adopted the policy of ambiguity has over 80 nuclear bombs – more than sufficient for the complete ruin of the world. And the whole stockpile of nuclear bombs is more than enough to destroy and entire human race not once or twice but several hundred times.
One wonders that instead of paying attention to destroying these weapons of mass destruction once and for all the big powers are paying attention to Iran, which has always denied the allegation of having any kind of nuclear weapon or even planning to make it.
Notably Iran is a signatory to NPT. In November 2003 the then IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei reported that Iran had repeatedly, over an extended period, failed to meet its safeguards obligations, including by failing to declare its uranium enrichment programme. After about two years of EU3-led diplomatic efforts and then Iran temporarily suspending its enrichment programme, the IAEA Board of Governors, found that these failures constituted non-compliance with the IAEA safeguards agreement. This was reported to the UN Security Council in 2006, after which the Security Council passed a resolution demanding that Iran suspend its enrichment programme.
The United States of America, the convener of the Summit, strategically did not invite Iran to the gathering despite its being a signatory to the Treaty, unlike other attendees which have substantial number of nuclear devices.
Today, the peace-loving countries fear that if immediate attention is not paid, it will pose a severe threat to the world peace, especially Iran’s nuclear programme. Hence the world leaders have mounted pressure on Iran and North Korea to give up their activities, which is quite uncertain. They are clearly not in favour of adding two more countries to the list of those who already possess these most dangerous weapons of mass annihilation.
How fruitful was the Summit cannot be judged merely by the pious sounding words but how it affects the countries which are in the queue to test nuclear weapons.
Whatever we can do to stop the countries will desperately go in vain if the countries already having weapons of mass destruction do not initiate and adopt the policy of nuclear disarmament, which is the best guarantor of nuclear security which can curb the proliferation of nuclear terrorism. The countries of the world must come together to introduce complete nuclear disarmament. A regime should be put in order to destroy the present stockpiles and a blanket ban should be put on development, or possession of these weapons.