Why UNSC joint statement on nuclear weapons is important

News: Five permanent  United Nations Security Council (P5) members have pledged to avoid the ongoing arms race and to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

This pledge was made ahead of a review of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT),1970.

What is the pledge made by P5 members on nuclear proliferation?

 P5 members emphasized on:

– Creating a secure environment by working together with the ultimate goal of having a world without nuclear weapons.

– Adopting bilateral and multilateral diplomatic approaches to avoid military confrontations and to increase mutual understanding and confidence.

– Engaging in constructive dialogue with mutual respect and acknowledgement of each other’s security interests and concerns

How could world countries avoid nuclear proliferation?

According to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the following approaches need to be adopted:

First, member states should move towards nuclear disarmament.

Second, Countries should adopt new measures of “transparency and dialogue.”

Third, Member states should address the boiling nuclear crises in the Middle East and Asia.

Fourth, Countries should strengthen the existing global bodies that support non-proliferation, including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Fifth, Member states should promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology

Last, Member states should remind “the world’s people – and especially the young ones – that eliminating nuclear weapons is the only way to guarantee that it will never be used.

Why maintaining world peace is important?

According to Gandhiji, the Right to peace is an essential framework for all human rights and to maintain it is the work of everyone, regardless of vocation, profession, or discipline.

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr, called “education in the obvious” precisely peace education. This is required at multiple levels, ranging across the planetary, global, supranational, regional, national, and local levels of social cognition and action. As these spheres are intensely related, critical and transformative.

UN Resolution 39/11 also proclaims that the peoples of our planet have a “sacred right to peace” and declares that the “preservation of the right of peoples to peace and the promotion of its implementation constitute a fundamental obligation of each State.

UN Resolution 53/243 B, declared a programme of action for a culture of peace (1999). It owes a great deal to Gandhi’s legacy and mission.

Source: This post is based on the article “Why UNSC joint statement on nuclear weapons is important” published in the Indian Express on 1st February 2022.