NEW YORK: A resolution calling upon Pakistan, India and Israel to give up their nuclear weapons and the ability to manufacture them was overwhelmingly passed by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Wednesday, despite opposition from the United States and concerned countries, including Pakistan, Firstpost reported.
The US joined India to vote against a key part of the resolution on achieving a nuclear weapon-free world that required the three countries to immediately and unconditionally accede to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as non-nuclear-weapon states and put all their nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.
However, France, Britain and Bhutan abstained from voting. The resolution passed with with 165 votes in the 193-member UNGA, with 21 countries absent.
India and the US were joined by Britain, Russia, Israel and North Korea in voting against the overall resolution on working towards a nuclear-weapon-free world. China, Pakistan, Bhutan, Micronesia and Palau abstained from voting.
This resolution and similar ones are generally not binding under the UN Charter, but are symbolic in nature.
India also voted against clauses in two other resolutions that, without naming any country, asked all countries to accede to the NPT, while giving up their nuclear arsenals.
New Delhi has been firm in rejecting the NPT, which it considers discriminatory in trying to preserve the nuclear weapon monopoly of five nations -- the US, Russia, China, France and Britain.
This stand was reiterated by Ambassador DB Venkatesh Varma in October at a meeting of the UNGA's committee that deals with disarmament and crafted these resolutions.
"There is no question of India joining the NPT as a non-nuclear weapon state," said Varma, who is India's Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament. "In our view, nuclear disarmament can be achieved through a step-by-step process underwritten by a universal commitment and an agreed global and non-discriminatory multilateral framework."
India also voted against a resolution pushing for conventional arms control at the regional and subregional levels.
In another resolution, the UNGA asked all nations to take strong actions to prevent terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction.
Other resolutions called for lessening international tension by reducing the operational readiness of the several thousand nuclear weapons that remained on high alert despite the end of the cold war, and requested the five nuclear-weapon states to review nuclear doctrines and take steps to reduce the risks of the use of nuclear weapons.
COMMENTS (11)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
Since Pakistan, India and Israel are the only non-signatories to the NPT, UN passed a resolution calling on three states to reduce their nuclear stock pile. Another key point to note here is that the world is headed towards Global Zero, and yet these 3 states haven't even signed the NPT. Maybe lobbying efforts failed which resulted in UN passing a resolution.
Who said nuclear weapons divide nations? In this case , nuclear weapons seem to be uniting Indians and Pakistanis . Atleast on the comments section :)
What about those thousands of nuclear weapons, possessed by US and Russia ? Why UNGA is silent on those weapons? I guess, it is the United States that has to materialize the dream of global zero. We need to work on those nukes which are held by US and Russia.
The UN needs to concern itself with more important issues than this. Pakistan needs nuclear weapons to allow us to protect us from countries who have covenential military superiority over us.
The countries should renounce nukes in the order they acquired these, starting with USA. In case of Pakistan and India, Pakistan acquired it to defend itself against Indian nukes. Hence, India must give up her nukes before Pakistan thinks about it. Period!
Either, all countries should give up these weapons or all countries should possess these weapons. There is no middle ground.
If India, Pakistan and Israel sign NPT and give up these weapons there is no guarantee that world will be safer place. Mega terror on earth was created by US against Japan. US should be the first country to give up these weapons because of their track record.
US nuclear proliferation record is also the worst on earth.
This is ludicrous. Why India, Pakistan and Israel should be the only one to give up their nuclear arsenal? Why UNGA doesn't have courage to urge all countries with nuclear arsenal to their up?
UNGA calls on Pakistan, India and Israel to give up nuclear weapons
The only country used the nuclear weapons against another country is USA till date 03.12.2014. First let american give up theirs and then we think about it.
Can United Nations investigative war crimes and atrocities commited by Israel and India in Palestine and Kashmir respectively. Looks UN is alway proactive on touching new issues and brining new topics for disussions but has always failed to even bring peace in one region of the planet, a very purpose it was created for.
It is a good suggestion by the UNGA to the three countries, but the UNGA should also advise the pioneers of the nuclear weapons for giving up their nuclear weapons. Why only to India Pakistan and Israel.