The five-yearly review of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty began in New York this week under the shadow of the war that the United States of America and Israel have waged against Iran since February 28, ostensibly over Tehran’s nuclear programme. At the conference, United Nations officials and representatives of several countries and non-profit organisations are expected to engage in understandable hand-wringing over the mounting fears of a renewed nuclear weapons race. But if the international community is serious about confronting the threat of nuclear attacks and radioactive leaks, what is needed is not just an examination of whether countries are abiding by the NPT but an honest relook at the treaty itself. India, Pakistan, Israel, North Korea and South Sudan are the only countries that are currently not members of the pact. This is because although the NPT is the world’s most widely-accepted arms control treaty, it is a document rooted in discrimination — the reason why New Delhi has consistently refused to sign it. It allows five nations — the US, Russia, China, the United Kingdom and France — to continue with their nuclear weapons programmes while barring all other nations.
In recent years, and especially during the current US-Israel war on Iran, the hypocrisy and the double-standards of the global nuclear regime have only been amplified further. The NPT asks nuclear weapons states to wind down their programmes. Yet, Russia has changed its nuclear doctrine to lower the threshold at which it can
use atomic weapons. China is expanding its nuclear arsenal. And the US president has casually threatened to obliterate an entire civilisation. Iran, an NPT member that does not have nuclear weapons, faces sanctions and heavy scrutiny — including, until last year, UN inspectors tracking its facilities. But Israel, widely believed to have nuclear missiles, faces no UN oversight, let alone punishment for the complete opacity it maintains over its nuclear programme. Now, the Donald Trump administration is demanding that Iran give up its rights under the NPT. The treaty allows member states low levels of enrichment needed for civilian nuclear reactors. But Mr Trump is insisting that Iran should not enrich uranium at all — this, in effect, encourages discrimination within NPT members. Far from enhancing nuclear security, this will reinforce to other nations that following rules will only put a target on their backs. India was right to stay out of the NPT earlier. Recent events have only vindicated that position.