The United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres urged all nations possessing nuclear technology to sign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which has been inked by 185 countries since its adoption by the UN General Assembly in 1996. The Secretary General shared this message on his twitter handle and warned the world that humanity remains unacceptably close to nuclear annihilation. According to him, about 14,000 nuclear weapons have been stockpiled around the world over the years and now it is the time to lift the cloud of nuclear conflict for good, eliminate nuclear weapons from the world, and usher in a new era of trust and peace. The Secretary General has voiced concern about a number of nations, including China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, North Korea, and the US, having yet to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The document, adopted in 1996, was signed by 185 countries but is yet to come into force.
Presently, the two big Nuclear powers, having 90% of the world, have the New Strategic Arms Reduction (START) Treaty in place effective up to February 5, 2026. The New START Treaty stipulates a reduction in the number of strategic nuclear missile launchers by one-half and limits the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550 by the two rivals. While commenting on the issue, the UN Under-Secretary-General of Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu has said that if big nuclear powers are really serious about eliminating nuclear weapons, then, all the other nuclear weapon possessing countries will have to come to the table and think about how to go about it.
In fact, there is dire need of strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime negotiations and engagement is the only way forward to resolve the global security challenges of the contemporary world. The real problem lies when some Nuclear powers take a selective approach to other states having nuclear capabilities. If P5 wants to end the current situation of limbo regarding nuclear nonproliferation efforts, they must end their preferential approach toward other countries and must adopt a nondiscriminatory policy to eliminate the nuclear clouds threatening humanity.
