PYQ Vault · Paper 2 · India & the Nuclear Question
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has failed to achieve the ultimate objective of Global Nuclear Disarmament. Discuss the deficiency in provision of NPT.
How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes
rR! NPT’s twin aim: non-proliferation + disarmament → arsenals never fell fault sits in the provisions 2 treaty designed to freeze proliferation, not remove arsenals > disarmament unmet by design
Body flow
unequal bargain – NWS (pre-1967) vs NNWS split have-nots forgo weapons + accept IAEA safeguards; NWS only pledge “gradual disarmament” (Article VI) → Article VI = “good faith,” no timeframe / target / penalty, no duty to destroy → Jaswant Singh “nuclear apartheid” → blocks new entrants but permits vertical proliferation ~ SIPRI: all nine modernising, several expanding, fresh arms race > enforcement thin (North Korea’s withdrawal + 2006 test) → 1995 indefinite extension entrenched the format > 2022 RevCon collapsed, second in a row, over unmet disarmament → non-nuclear states push TPNW into force (2021), no-confidence in Article VI
Counter-view
NPT did curb horizontal proliferation, near-universal (191 parties) → deficiency lies in the disarmament pillar, not the whole treaty
Conclusion routes
R1 fails by design: asks the strong to disarm with no deadline or sanction k2 remedy: a universal, verifiable framework with a fixed timeframe (Nuclear Weapons Convention)
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
