Pramod Bhargava
When the United Nations was established in 1945, its main objective was nuclear disarmament in the world. But it will be said ironically that since the existence of this global institution, the number of countries possessing nuclear weapons is increasing, the number of nuclear and hydrogen bombs is increasing.
The number is also increasing.
The treaties, which were implemented worldwide to avoid war and stabilize peace efforts, are proving to be a passive role in the Russo-Ukraine War. Ukraine had also signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) under pressure from the US, the European Union and Russia, today the same treaty is standing in front of it. Russia has started preparing to launch nuclear weapons along with attacking Ukraine. While the US and the European Union are in a state of confusion.
NATO countries are also looking sideways. Despite this, Ukrainian citizens are taking on the Russian army with the help of will. The Russian army is trying to control them by launching heavy attacks on many cities including the capital Kyiv. In such a situation, if this situation persists for a few more days, then there is a possibility that President Vladimir Putin may make limited use of nuclear weapons. This is possible because Ukraine has not been able to move forward in the direction of making nuclear weapons due to the signing of the NPT. He is now realizing his mistake.
Ukraine had committed not to develop nuclear weapons in 1994 under the Budapest Agreement. At that time, America and European countries, along with Russia, adopted a policy of depriving Ukraine of nuclear weapons. After that Ukraine destroyed the nuclear weapons it had in 1996. Ukraine took this initiative under the ‘Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)’ that came into force at the Geneva Conference on 20 June 1996. Whereas India refused to sign this treaty related to nuclear testing. Pakistan had also adopted the same stance by taking the oat of India. The flaws of this discriminatory treaty are now clearly visible.
India’s first nuclear test was conducted by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1974 in Pokhran, Rajasthan, so that the world can know that India has progressed towards becoming a nuclear power country. The second test was conducted in 1998 by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. However, after this test, India adopted the principle that it would not use nuclear weapons first. In August 1999, the Government of India had also issued a proposal for this principle. It said that ‘nuclear weapons are for deterrence only and India will pursue a policy of retaliation only’. That is, India will never go ahead and launch a nuclear attack first. But if any country did a nuclear attack on it, it would react with a nuclear attack in the spirit of retaliation.
Due to all the irony and contradictions that emerged on the world scene, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), an organization engaged in the effort of nuclear disarmament, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017. This Norwegian-based international organization is running an international campaign to eliminate nuclear weapons. The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to this institution was considered relevant because nuclear-armed countries threatened each other, making the world tense and fearful of nuclear war. On the one hand, North Korea is threatening to destroy America, Japan and South Korea, while in retaliation, America has been shouting to destroy the entire existence of North Korea. On the other hand, China had decided to land nuclear submarines in the sea on the pretext of maritime surveillance.
The ICAN organization is engaged in efforts to make the world nuclear weapon free through international treaties. One hundred and twenty-two countries have also signed a treaty to ban nuclear weapons, agreeing to the organization’s efforts. When the United Nations was established in 1945, its main objective was nuclear disarmament in the world. But it will be said ironically that since the existence of this global institution, not only has the number of countries possessing nuclear weapons been increasing, the number of nuclear and hydrogen bombs is also increasing.
Countries that are nuclear-armed have not yet agreed to sign the Nuclear and Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). These countries include America, Russia, China, Britain, France, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea. If the report of Arms Control Association, Washington is to be believed, at present Russia has seven thousand, America has six thousand eight hundred, France has three hundred, China has two hundred and sixty, Britain has two hundred and fifteen, Pakistan has one. One hundred and forty, India has one hundred and ten, Israel has eighty and North Korea has ten nuclear weapons. If these countries show the spark to these weapons, then the whole earth will be destroyed.
ICAN was formed in 2007. At present its branches are spread in one hundred and one countries. With this effort, one hundred and twenty-two countries have signed the United Nations Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In this context, an important role of this institution has come to the fore in averting the threat of nuclear war. However, due to the non-signing of the treaty by the nuclear-rich countries, this crisis remains in place and it seems that Russia should not launch a nuclear attack on Ukraine. In fact, during the Second World War, the US dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6 and on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Due to the radioactive radiation released by the explosions of these bombs, not only two lakh people died, thousands of people were incurable diseases for many years.
Even today children with disabilities are born in this area. When the United States conducted its first tests in 1945, nuclear weapons were in their first stage of manufacturing. But since then, a lot of progress has been made in the direction of making lethal nuclear weapons. So now that these weapons are used, the horrors of destruction will be far more frightening than those of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That is why it is being said that today the world has such a large amount of nuclear weapons that the whole earth can be destroyed not once but many times.
India has already proposed the complete destruction of nuclear weapons in the United Nations. But the nuclear superpowers did not show any interest in this proposal, as nuclear dominance itself has inherent veto-power. Now nuclear-armed countries are trading uranium by entering into civil nuclear agreements with many countries. Under the guise of nuclear energy and healthcare, many countries have become nuclear-powered countries and are going on collecting weapons. However, India is still supporting a world without nuclear weapons. But he is against partiality in this context. This is the reason why India has not yet signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Now it looks like India has done right by doing this.
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