Hyderabad: It's been more than 75 years since the catastrophic Hiroshima-Nagasaki bombing that devastated Japan and brought the generation at peril but still, the world is not rapidly considering over nuclear disarmament as the UN and nations regularly speak over the disbanding but behind the countries' hollow promises lies a dark desire to lead the globe with higher warheads counts.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Friday that the world is living in the shadow of nuclear catastrophe, fuelled by growing distrust and tensions between the nuclear powers.
The UN chief told a high-level meeting to commemorate the recent International Day for Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons that progress on ridding the world of nuclear weapons has stalled and is at risk of backsliding."
And he said strains between countries that possess nuclear weapons have increased nuclear risks.
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As examples, Guterres has expressed deep concern at the escalating disputes between the Trump administration and China. Relations between the US and Russia are at a low point.
Without naming any countries, Guterres said programs to modernize nuclear arsenals threaten a qualitative nuclear arms race, not to increase the number of weapons but to make them faster, stealthier and more accurate.
Guterres also pointed to the only treaty constraining the size of the world's largest nuclear arsenals -- the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the United States and Russia -- which is set to expire next year.
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It is imperative that the two countries extend it without delay for the maximum five years, he said, waring that without a treaty there is an alarming possibility of a return to unconstrained strategic competition.
The secretary-general said the nuclear non-proliferation treaty or NPT, which marks its 50th anniversary this year, remains the cornerstone of nuclear disarmament and efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.
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The five-year review of its implementation was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic until next year and Guterres urged its 191 parties to use the extra time to strengthen the treaty, including making tangible progress towards the elimination of nuclear weapons."
India and Pakistan were scheduled to speak, but only India got to deliver remarks.
Many speakers recalled that the meeting took place 75 years after the United States dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which killed 2,10,000 people and sped the end of World War II.
India's stance
India's foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla reiterated the country's longstanding commitment to nuclear disarmament through a step-by-step process, and said all states possessing nuclear weapons need to hold a meaningful dialogue" to build trust and confidence.
Addressing the virtual high-level plenary meeting on Friday to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, Shringla said, "India reiterates its long-standing and unwavering commitment to universal, verifiable and non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament leading to the complete elimination of nuclear weapons, in line with the Final Document of the First Special Session of the UN General Assembly on Disarmament (SSOD-1)."
He said India's approach to nuclear disarmament is encapsulated in its Working Paper submitted to the UN General Assembly First Committee in 2006 and to the Conference on Disarmament in 2007.
"We believe that nuclear disarmament can be achieved through a step-by-step process underwritten by a universal commitment and an agreed multilateral framework. India remains convinced of the need for meaningful dialogue among all States possessing nuclear weapons, for building trust and confidence," Shringla said.
The Iran row
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, whose country is still part of a 2015 agreement with Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany aimed at preventing the Islamic Republic from obtaining nuclear weapon, said the meeting provides a unique opportunity to mobilize the world to liberate humanity from the nuclear nightmare.
In brief prerecorded remarks, Zarif accused the United States of developing new nuclear weapons and recklessly lowering the threshold of their deployment."
He said the US has also caused immense damage to the NPT by unlawfully withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and the 1987 intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia on missile.
Zarif also lashed out at US support for Israel, the sole possessor of nuclear arsenal in our region.
He demanded that the international community compel Israel -- which has aggression in its very DNA -- to promptly accede to the NPT and destroy its nuclear arsenal and submit to the most intrusive inspection regime.
The Iranian minister also called on the General Assembly to declare as a binding norm of international law that a nuclear war cannot be won -- and must never be fought, and to develop a concrete program for time-bound nuclear disarmament.
Just imagine if the billions wasted on instruments of global annihilation were allocated to help fund the fight against COVID-19, Zarif said.
What did other nations say
Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said in spite of the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of the atomic bombings, the nuclear threat is as present as ever and multilateralism is under severe pressure.
Polarization and a lack of trust are a dangerous mix, one which we cannot afford to ignore, she said.
Linde called on the U.S. and Russia to promptly extend New START and welcomed recent discussions on a broader, follow-on agreement, which could also include China.
Sweden has launched the Stockholm Initiative on Nuclear Disarmament with 15 non-nuclear nations aimed at building political support for a result-oriented disarmament agenda within the NPT framework, she said, urging other countries to join the effort.
Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said no significant progress has been made by nuclear-weapon states in reducing their arsenals, and their current modernisation efforts have resulted in the ever-enlarging trust deficit among countries.
She called for enforcement of the NPT, strengthening disarmament, the early entry into force of the nuclear test ban treaty, and for all nuclear-weapon states to become parties to nuclear-weapons-free zones.
Maintaining nuclear weapons, is clearly, a zero-sum situation, while total abolishment of such weapons, will ensure that humanity prevails, Marsudi said.
With inputs from agencies
