Page 390 - SSB Interview: The Complete Guide, Second Edition

(NPT) AND INDIA

NPT has been in effect since 1970. All nations of the world have signed the

NPT except India, Pakistan and Israel. North Korea withdrew from the NPT
in 2003 and Iran is threatening to opt out of it.

The treaty divided the world into two groups, namely, the haves and the

have-nots of nuclear weapons. The haves being USA, Russia, China, UK and
France and the have-nots being the rest of the world. The aim of the treaty

was two-fold. First, the nuclear weapon states will move towards
disarmament by destroying their weapons in stages; secondly, the non-
nuclear weapon states will not seek nuclear weapons but will be assisted by

nuclear states to get nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

India’s Objection to the Treaty

It is discriminatory as there are no checks on the nuclear weapon states

about their progress towards disarmament whereas there are checks on
the non-nuclear weapon states about their nuclear programme for

peaceful purposes. These checks are carried out by the inspectors of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Both neighbouring countries on the East and West, that is, China and

Pakistan have nuclear weapons.

India’s nuclear programme

Every five years, a review was carried out on the progress of the NPT. In its
final review in 1995, 25 years after the treaty came into force, the nuclear

states decided to hold their arsenals indefinitely. This was a great blow to the
aim of the treaty. Thus, India also decided to go nuclear and in May 1998,
India exploded its first nuclear bomb at Pokhran in Rajasthan and became a

nuclear power. This was not liked by the nuclear states and sanctions were
put against India. Our establishments and scientists involved with the
experiment were denied access to sophisticated classified equipment. The

world is now realising the ground reality and has once again tried to engage