NEW YORK, April 28 \u2014 Signatories of the landmark nuclear non-proliferation treaty began a meeting Monday at the United Nations as fears of a renewed arms race escalate, with atomic powers again at loggerheads over safeguards.<\/p>\n
In 2022, during the last review of the treaty considered the cornerstone of non-proliferation, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned humanity was \u201cone misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Monday he warned \u201cthe drivers\u201d of nuclear weapons proliferation were accelerating.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor too long, the treaty has been eroding. Commitments remain unfulfilled. Trust and credibility are wearing thin. The drivers of proliferation are accelerating. We need to breathe life into the treaty once more,\u201d Guterres said in opening remarks.<\/p>\n
With global geopolitical friction only heightened since the last meeting, it was unclear what the gathering at UN headquarters could achieve.<\/p>\n
France\u2019s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told signatories that \u201cnever has the risk of nuclear proliferation been so high, and the threat posed by Iran\u2019s and North Korea\u2019s programs is intolerable for each and every state party to this treaty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tempering expectations, Do Hung Viet, Vietnam\u2019s UN ambassador and president of the conference, said \u201cwe should not expect this conference to resolve the underlying strategic tensions of our time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut a balanced outcome that reaffirms core commitments and set out practical steps forward would strengthen the integrity of the NPT,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe success or failure of this conference will have implications way beyond these halls,\u201d Viet added. \u201cThe prospects of a new nuclear arms race are looming over us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT), signed by almost all countries on the planet \u2013 with notable exceptions including Israel, India and Pakistan \u2013 aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, promote complete disarmament, and encourage cooperation on civilian nuclear projects.<\/p>\n
The nine nuclear-armed states \u2013 Russia, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea \u2013 possessed 12,241 nuclear warheads in January 2025, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reported.<\/p>\n
The US and Russia hold nearly 90 per cent of nuclear weapons globally and have carried out major programs to modernise them in recent years, according to SIPRI.<\/p>\n
China has also rapidly increased its nuclear stockpile, SIPRI said, with the G7 raising the alarm Friday over Moscow and Beijing boosting their nuclear capabilities.<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump has indicated his intention to conduct new nuclear tests, accusing others of doing so clandestinely.<\/p>\n
In March, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a dramatic shift in nuclear deterrence, notably an increase in the atomic arsenal, currently numbering 290 warheads.<\/p>\n
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi, just returned from 40th anniversary events at Chernobyl to mark the nuclear disaster there, said \u201cthere is a growing perception that perhaps having nuclear weapons could be good for national security.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing is further from the truth,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u2018Affront\u2019 to NPT<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is obvious that trust is eroding, both inside and outside the NPT,\u201d Seth Shelden of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, told AFP.<\/p>\n
He questioned the likely outcome of the four-week summit.<\/p>\n
Decisions on the NPT require agreement by consensus, with the previous two conferences failing to adopt final political declarations.<\/p>\n
In 2015, the deadlock was largely due to opposition by Israel\u2019s arch-ally Washington to creation of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
A 2022 impasse was due mainly to Russian opposition to references to Ukraine\u2019s nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia, occupied by Moscow.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s summit could hit any number of stumbling blocks.<\/p>\n
The ongoing war in Ukraine, Iran\u2019s nuclear program and the war there, proliferation fears and Pyongyang\u2019s developing arsenal could all be deal-breakers.<\/p>\n
The United States along with its allies Britain, the UAE and Australia spoke out at Iran\u2019s appointment as a conference vice president.<\/p>\n
Washington\u2019s meeting envoy said conferring a leadership role on Tehran was an \u201caffront\u201d to countries that take the NPT \u201cseriously.\u201d<\/p>\n
Artificial intelligence could be a prominent issue as some countries call for all sides to keep human control over nuclear weapons. \u2014 AFP<\/p>\n
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