Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is a multilateral treaty meant to stop the spread of nuclear weapons while allowing peaceful nuclear energy. Its bargain rests on three linked objectives: non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, peaceful use of nuclear energy, and nuclear disarmament. India is not a party to the NPT.

Constitutional / legal basis

The NPT’s legal basis is the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, opened for signature in 1968 and in force from 1970. Its core provisions are in Articles I-VI, and Article IX(3) defines a “nuclear-weapon State” as one that manufactured and exploded a nuclear weapon or other nuclear explosive device before 1 January 1967.

Key points

• The three commonly stated pillars of the NPT are nuclear non-proliferation, nuclear disarmament, and peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
• Article I obliges nuclear-weapon states not to transfer nuclear weapons or control over them, and not to assist non-nuclear-weapon states in acquiring them.
• Article II obliges non-nuclear-weapon states not to receive, manufacture, or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.
• Article III requires non-nuclear-weapon states to accept International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards to verify that nuclear material in peaceful activities is not diverted to nuclear weapons.
• Article IV recognises the inalienable right of all parties to develop research, production, and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, in conformity with the treaty’s non-proliferation obligations.
• Article VI commits parties to pursue negotiations in good faith on measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race, nuclear disarmament, and a treaty on general and complete disarmament under effective international control.
• The nuclear-weapon state/non-nuclear-weapon state distinction is important because it creates different obligations: the five pre-1967 nuclear-weapon states are treated separately from all other parties, while non-nuclear-weapon states accept a legal renunciation of nuclear weapons and safeguards; this asymmetry is central to debates on the treaty’s fairness and to India’s refusal to join it.

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