UN adopts global treaty banning Nuclear weapons; India skips talks

Over 120 countries in the United Nations voted to adopt the first-ever global treaty to ban nuclear weapons, even as India and eight other nuclear- armed nations, including the US, China and Pakistan did not participate in thenegotiations for thelegally binding instrument to prohibit atomic weapons.

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the first multilateral legally-binding instrument for nuclear disarmament to have been negotiated in 20 years, was adopted yesterday amid cheers and applause by a vote of 122 in favour to one against (Netherlands) and one abstention (Singapore). 

India and other nuclear-armed nations -- the United States, Russia, Britain, China, France, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel had not participated in the negotiations.

A substantive session was held in March this year to negotiate the legally binding instrument aimed at prohibiting nuclear weapons.

In October



last year,more than 120 nations hadvoted on a UN General Assembly resolution to convenea conference to negotiate the legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination.

India had abstained from voting on that resolution.

In its Explanation of Vote (EoV) given for its abstention on the resolution in October, India had said that it was "not convinced" that the proposed conference could address the longstanding expectation of the international community for a comprehensive instrument on nuclear disarmament.

India also maintained that the Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament (CD) is the single multilateral disarmament negotiation forum.

It had further said that it supports the commencement of negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament on a Comprehensive Nuclear Weapons Convention, which in addition to prohibition and elimination also includes verification.