NPT Review Conference (RevCon) postponed due to COVID-19 : Daily Current Affairs

Relevance: GS-2: Effect of Policies & Politics of Countries on India's Interests, International Treaties & Agreements

Key Phrases: Due to global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, UN Security Council, Geopolitical tensions among the global powers, Responsible Nuclear Power

Context

Due to global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, States Parties have decided to postpone the Tenth Review Conference (RevCon) of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to a later date but no later than February 2022.
Earlier due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Review Conference was postponed twice from its original dates of 27 April–22 May 2020, then 2-27 August 2021.

Why in news?

For the first time, the leaders of China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States (P-5), issued a statement about avoiding an arms race and not targeting each other or at any other State, strongly asserting that the further spread of such weapons must be prevented
The statement was made in the backdrop of rise in Geopolitical tensions amongst nuclear powers

Geopolitical tensions among the global powers

The military buildup on Russia's border with Ukraine and subsequent warning of Washington of decisive response to Moscow regarding imposition of sanctions in the event of invasion of Ukraine.
Tensions between the U.S. and China over human rights issues, a crackdown on pro-democracy groups in Hong Kong, its approach towards Taiwan and increased military activity in the Pacific.
In Dec,2021 both the US and the EU accused Beijing of undermining peace and security in the region. China considers Taiwan to be its territory and has warned it will take the island by force if necessary.
The statement also comes as the world powers seek to reach an agreement with Iran on reviving the 2015 deal over its controversial nuclear drive, which was rendered moribund by the US walking out of the accord in 2018.

Gist of the Joint Statement

“We believe strongly that the further spread of such weapons must be prevented,” said permanent UN Security Council members.
The statement went on to say: "A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought."That comment echoes a joint statement from former US President Ronald Reagan and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985 after a summit in Geneva at the height of the nuclear arms race late in the Cold War.
Putting aside current differences that have caused major tensions between both China and Russia and their Western partners, the five world powers said they saw “the avoidance of war between nuclear-weapon states and the reduction of strategic risks as our foremost responsibilities.”
“As nuclear use would have far-reaching consequences, we also affirm that nuclear weapons — for as long as they continue to exist — should serve defensive purposes, deter aggression, and prevent war,” they said according to the text released by the White House.
They added: “We each intend to maintain and further strengthen our national measures to prevent unauthorised or unintended use of nuclear weapons.”

Reaction to the Joint Statement

Russia welcomed the declaration by the atomic powers and expressed hope it would reduce global tensions
Beijing said the statement will "increase mutual trust" among world powers, while officials in Russia said they hoped the pledge would help to reduce world tensions over global security.

Understanding Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)

The NPT is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.
The Treaty represents the only binding commitment in a multilateral treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear-weapon States.
The NPT is an international agreement designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology while seeking to achieve complete nuclear disarmament.
It supports the right to harness nuclear power for peaceful purposes.
The treaty came into in force 1970 after being opened for signature in 1968. In total 191 states have signed the treaty including the five recognized nuclear weapon states.
According to the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, more countries have ratified the NPT than any other arms limitation and disarmament agreement, which is regarded as testament to its significance.
The provisions of the Treaty, particularly article VIII, paragraph 3, envisage a review of the operation of the Treaty every five years, a provision which was reaffirmed by the States parties at the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference. On 11 May 1995, the Treaty was extended indefinitely.
All countries except four (India, Israel, and Pakistan never joined, and North Korea withdrew in 2003) are parties to the NPT.

India as Responsible Nuclear Power and its commitment to Non-proliferation of nuclear weapons

India has refrained from signing nuclear disarmament treaties such as the NPT and Comprehensive Nuclear Ban Treaty (CTBT), citing them discriminatory — while non-nuclear states aren’t allowed to have nuclear weapons, nuclear-weapon states have no obligation to give them up.
Also, the NPT only recognises a country as a nuclear power if tests were conducted before 1967. India isn’t ready to sign the treaty as a non-nuclear weapons state.
After the 1974 Pokhran nuclear test, India was denied nuclear technology by the West, with sanctions led by the US.
In 2006, India signed a civil nuclear deal with the US, which was the first implicit recognition of India as a nuclear power. The core of this agreement was the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
In September 2008, the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) exempted India though it hadn’t ratified the NPT.
In 2017, India joined the Wassenaar Arrangement, to build up a strong case for its entry into the NSG. Like the NSG, Wassenaar is a group of elite countries that subscribe to arms export control. The agreement ensures greater transparency in the exchange of conventional arms, dual-use goods, and technologies.
Prior to this, India acceded to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in 2016 while in 2018, it was admitted to the Australia Group.
Apart from the US, India has also signed a number of civil nuclear agreements with countries such as France, Russia and Japan, among others, even as it aims to increase its nuclear power generation capacity by over three times in 10 years.
The present installed nuclear power capacity in the country is 6,780 MW and the share of nuclear power in the total electricity generation in the country is about 3.1 per cent in the year 2020-21.
Currently, India possesses approximately 150 nuclear weapons that it can launch from missiles and aircraft. It spent approximately $2.3 billion in building and maintaining its nuclear weapons.

Do you Know?

Three “pillars” of the NPT – nuclear verification (safeguards) security and safety.
NPT has helped nations to undertake peaceful use of nuclear energy while keeping them away from developing nuclear weapons.
Among the oft-cited successes of the NPT is the dramatic reduction in the number of nuclear weapons from a peak of over 70,000 warheads in the early 1980s to around 14,000 at present, with the U.S. and Russia accounting for over 12,500 of them. However, these reductions were a result of bilateral negotiations between the U.S. and Russia, reflecting the state of their relations. No negotiations have ever been held within the NPT framework.
The NPT recognizes China, France, Russia, the U.K., and United States as nuclear weapons powers.
India and Pakistan have also developed nuclear weapons, while Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear arms but has never officially acknowledged it has.
North Korea, which has also developed nuclear weapons, pulled out of the NPT in 2003.
France and China acceded to NPT in 1992
South Africa remains the only country known to have developed nuclear weapons and then to have dismantled its nuclear arsenal completely.
As it today stands, nearly 40 countries are generating around 10% of electricity of the world, while also using nuclear energy for other purposes such as medicine, agriculture, and water desalination

Challenges before the Tenth Rev Con:

Global nuclear disarmament remains a distant dream. More than 14,000 nuclear warheads are with the 9 nuclear armed states at more than 100 locations in 14 States and stocks of nearly 1,400 tones (or 1,400,000 kg) of weapon-grade uranium and 500 tones (or 500,000 kg) of weapon-usable plutonium good for more than 130,000 nuclear warheads
The modernization of nuclear arsenals by all the nuclear armed states, and the withdrawal of the US from the 1987 Intermediate- and Shorter-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) limiting Iran’s peaceful nuclear program and the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty that formed the basis of strategic stability between Russia and the United States, makes the prospect of progress towards global nuclear disarmament even more bleak.
Other divisive political challenges for the Rev Con include a push by non―nuclear weapons states for substantive reductions in nuclear arsenals; lack of progress on the 1995 initiative for the Middle East as a zone free of all weapons of mass destruction; a U.S. push for universal adherence to the International Atomic Energy Agency Additional Protocol; and North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, among others.

Way Forward:

With increasing rift between nuclear armed states who vouch for nuclear deterrence and the non-nuclear states who pledge for absolute disarmament of nuclear weapons, next RevCon will be a crucial one. It is not clear as to how the two would reconcile their positions.
Lack of a shared vision amongst the NWS will impact the conference. While efforts must be made by the NWS to preserve and strengthen the NPT so that it can provide an essential foundation for the prevention of further proliferation and realize its actual goal of absolute elimination, this looks highly unlikely.
Will the NPT crumble under extensive pressure as there might be a blame game on the state of nuclear Arms control since the last Rev Con? Such a situation may not come to pass since many nations still see a stake in the continuance of the NPT. But, unless nations begin to build a habit of cooperation, a secure future for arms control and nonproliferation cannot be ascertained.

Source: The Hindu; AFP; The Print and website of UNO