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India at UN renews offer of a multilateral No First Use pact

By CAShorts DeskPublished Sources: All India Radio News; DD News; Permanent Mission of India to the UN; PIB (CCS, 2003); UN; UNODA; OPCW

India at UN renews offer of a multilateral No First Use pact
Illustration (AI-generated)

India has reiterated at the UN General Assembly's First Committee that it is ready to make its No First Use pledge, and its pledge not to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states, part of a multilateral legal agreement. India also reaffirmed its voluntary nuclear testing moratorium and said decisions to use nuclear weapons must remain under human control.

Syllabus: Prelims · Current Affairs & IR; GS3 · IT, Space, Biotech & IPR; GS2 · Groupings & Agreements

Why this matters for UPSC

GS2 Mains can ask about India's No First Use doctrine, the Nuclear Command Authority and disarmament diplomacy; Prelims can ask about the First Committee, the Conference on Disarmament, the NPT and the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Why it matters

A nuclear war would not stay inside two countries: fallout, famine and refugee flows would reach people far away. A pledge never to fire first lowers the chance that a border crisis turns nuclear by mistake or in panic. India already holds such a pledge as policy, but a policy can be changed by any future government. Putting it into a treaty that many states sign would bind India and invite nuclear-armed neighbours to accept the same limit. The worry about computers deciding launches is practical: a machine error or a hacked warning system could start a war that no person chose. Keeping weapons of mass destruction away from terrorist groups protects ordinary city dwellers most of all.

Prelims pointers

  • India's nuclear doctrine (2003): nuclear weapons are used only in retaliation against a nuclear attack on Indian territory or on Indian forces anywhere.
  • Exception in the 2003 doctrine: India keeps the option of nuclear retaliation to a major biological or chemical attack on India or Indian forces anywhere.
  • Nuclear Command Authority: its Political Council, chaired by the Prime Minister, alone can authorise nuclear use; its Executive Council is chaired by the National Security Advisor.
  • India's First Committee resolutions: 'Convention on the Prohibition of the Use of Nuclear Weapons' since 1982; 'Reducing Nuclear Danger' since 1998; terrorists and WMD since 2002.
  • Conference on Disarmament: recognised by the General Assembly's first special session on disarmament (SSOD-I, 1978) as the single multilateral negotiating forum; works by consensus, reports to the General Assembly.
  • NPT: opened for signature in 1968, in force since 1970, extended indefinitely on 11 May 1995; it recognises five nuclear-weapon States.
  • Chemical Weapons Convention: in force since 29 April 1997, implemented by the OPCW; India signed on 14 January 1993 and ratified on 3 September 1996.
  • Biological Weapons Convention: opened for signature on 10 April 1972, in force since 26 March 1975; it supplements the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which banned only use.

Practise a UPSC-style question

With reference to India's nuclear doctrine made public by the Cabinet Committee on Security in 2003, consider the following statements:

1. Nuclear retaliation to a first strike will be massive and designed to inflict unacceptable damage.

2. The doctrine commits India to take part in negotiations on a Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. (a) 1 only
  2. (b) 2 only
  3. (c) Both 1 and 2
  4. (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Show the answer

Answer: (a) 1 only

Answer: (a) 1 only. The 2003 doctrine promises massive retaliation; the treaty it names for negotiations is the fissile material cut-off treaty.

Statement 1: correct. The CCS release of 4 January 2003 says retaliation to a first strike will be massive and designed to inflict unacceptable damage.

Statement 2: incorrect. The doctrine names participation in the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty negotiations, alongside continued observance of the moratorium on nuclear tests.

Eliminate: Judge statement 1 first: massive retaliation is the doctrine's best-known line, so it is correct. Out: (b), (d).

Eliminate: Statement 2 swaps the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty for the test-ban treaty, so it is incorrect. Out: (c).

Trap: Swapped attribution. The doctrine does mention nuclear tests, through the moratorium, so a test-ban treaty sounds right in place of the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty.

Remember: 2003 doctrine: massive retaliation, test moratorium, and FMCT negotiations; no test-ban treaty commitment.

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