The Indian Government on Tuesday justified its absence from the United Nations conference held on July 7, 2017, to move towards adopting a legally binding Instrument to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons saying the Treaty in no way constitutes or contributes to the development of any customary international law. While refusing to be a party to any such move, the Indian Government, at the same time made it clear that it remains committed to universal, non-discriminatory and verifiable nuclear disarmament.
The meeting held in New York saw 122 countries voting for a complete prohibition on nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination, while The Netherland voted against the move and Singapore abstained, India did not participate in the negotiations on the Treaty. In fact, none of the other countries possessing nuclear weapons participated in the negotiations.
In response to a query regarding India’s view on a Treaty to ban nuclear weapons, the Official Spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs, Gopal Baglay, said that India continues to attach priority to and remains committed to universal, non-discriminatory and verifiable nuclear disarmament.
“These negotiations (on the Treaty for Prohibition on Nuclear Weapons) were conducted under UN General Assembly rules of procedure, pursuant to UN General Assembly Resolution 71/258 of 23 December 2016. India had abstained on this Resolution and provided a detailed Explanation of Vote. India had further expressed its position on the issue of its non-participation in these negotiations at a Plenary of the Conference on Disarmament on 28 March 2017,” Baglay said.
He added that, India, therefore, cannot be a party to the Treaty, and so shall not be bound by any of the obligations that may arise from it.
“India believes that this Treaty in no way constitutes or contributes to the development of any customary international law. India reiterates its commitment to the goal of a nuclear weapon free world. India believes that this goal can be achieved through a step-by-step process underwritten by a universal commitment and an agreed global and non-discriminatory multilateral framework. In this regard, India supports the commencement of negotiations on a comprehensive Nuclear Weapons Convention in the Conference on Disarmament, which is the world’s single multilateral disarmament negotiation forum working on the basis of consensus,” the official said.