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Farcical Finale - The Times of India

Editorial ()
12 September 1996

Title : Farcical Finale
Author : Editorial
Publication : The Times of India
Date : September 12, 1996

With the mobilisation of as many as 121 nations to
sponsor the draft, there was never any doubt about the
U.N. General Assembly adopting the Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty. This despite the fact that the votaries were
fully aware that the treaty was not intended by its
sponsors to be brought into force. By insisting that
India sign and ratify the treaty in violation of the
Vienna Convention on the Law Treaties, which lays down
that no treaty can be imposed on nations, the sponsors
have ensured that it will only remain on paper. This
move is no doubt in the same spirit of hypocrisy that
characterised the Indefinite and unconditional extension
of the Non-proliferation Treaty which legitimised the
possession of the holocaust weapons in the hands of the
five most war-prone powers of the world. Indeed, it
comes as no surprise at all that countries which voted to
legitimise nuclear weapons should have replayed the sham
through this treaty and perpetuated the international
divide between the five nuclear hegemons and the rest of
the international community. This nuclear test
explosions ban treaty signals the beginning of a new arms
race through technologies which are at present within the
reach of only two nations - the U.S. and France - but
which China and Russia are ,bound eventually to master.
Thousands of very talented scientists are not being
gathered in nuclear weapon-oriented facilities just for
verification of reliability and safety of existing
nuclear arsenals. The 'treaty now adopted has no
provision to verify clandestine weapons development by
such large teams.

The significance of this treaty lies not so much in the
area of nuclear weapon development, which is going to
continue, as in the meek surrender by 153 non-nuclear
weapon nations of their sovereignty. By voting for the
infamous Article 14 of the treaty in contravention of the
Vienna Convention, these nations have accepted that
nuclear hegemons are entitled to impose their will on the
rest of the world. Together with the earlier
legitimising of the nuclear arsenals, the treaty kills
two cardinal principles of non-alignment - commitment to
disarmament and upholding of the principle of autonomy in
national decision-making. One wonders whether there is
any more justification left for continuing the non-
aligned movement after the total surrender on the NPT and
the CTBT. 'there has been some criticism of India's
,failure to move an amendment in the U.N. General
Assembly. If India had done so on the outrageous Article
14 and the international community had voted it out,
which was bound to have happened, the damage to the
Vienna Convention would have been fatal. By ensuring
that this treaty will never be ratified, India will be
upholding the Vienna Convention and defending the
sovereignty and autonomy in decision making of members of
the international community other than the five nuclear
hegemons. It was a sad day for the U.N. and the
international community but a proud day for India.


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