Disarmament and Terrorism: NPT, CTBT and the WMD Act

Weapons of mass destruction and terrorism are among the gravest threats to international peace. International law addresses them through treaties limiting nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, binding Security Council resolutions, and conventions against specific terrorist acts. India occupies a distinctive position: it possesses nuclear weapons but has stayed outside the NPT, while being a strong advocate of a comprehensive convention on terrorism. This note covers these regimes and India's practice.

1. Nuclear Weapons

Figure 1: The bargain of the NPT, 1968

• NPT. Signed in 1968 and in force from 1970, it was extended indefinitely in 1995; India, Pakistan, Israel and South Sudan have never joined, and North Korea announced its withdrawal in 2003.
• India's objection. India regards the treaty as discriminatory because it divides states into permanent haves and have-nots based on an arbitrary date, without a binding timetable for disarmament.
• Nuclear Weapons advisory opinion, 1996. The Court unanimously held that there exists an obligation to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control.
• Test bans. The Partial Test Ban Treaty, 1963 bans tests in the atmosphere, outer space and under water, and India is a party; the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, 1996 bans all nuclear explosions but is not in force, since specified states, including India, have not ratified it; India declined to sign.
• India's tests. India conducted a peaceful nuclear explosion at Pokhran in 1974 and tests in May 1998, after which Security Council resolution 1172 condemned the tests by India and Pakistan; India declared a voluntary moratorium on further testing and a doctrine of no first use.
• TPNW, 2017. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into force in 2021; no nuclear-armed state, including India, is a party.

Figure 2: India and the nuclear order

• Civil nuclear cooperation. Following the India-US civil nuclear initiative, India concluded an India-specific safeguards agreement with the IAEA in 2008, and the Nuclear Suppliers Group granted a waiver in September 2008 allowing nuclear trade with India.
• Export control regimes. India joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (2016), the Wassenaar Arrangement (2017) and the Australia Group (2018); its application to the Nuclear Suppliers Group remains pending.
• Nuclear-weapon-free zones. Treaties of Tlatelolco (Latin America, 1967), Rarotonga (South Pacific, 1985), Bangkok (South-East Asia, 1995), Pelindaba (Africa, 1996) and Central Asia (2006); Antarctica, outer space and the seabed are also demilitarised by treaty.

2. Chemical and Biological Weapons

Figure 3: India's status under the main treaties

• Geneva Protocol, 1925. Banned the use in war of asphyxiating gases and bacteriological methods.
• Biological Weapons Convention, 1972. Bans development, production and stockpiling of biological and toxin weapons; India is a party.
• Chemical Weapons Convention, 1993. Bans chemical weapons and requires destruction of stockpiles, verified by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons; India is a party, declared its stockpile and completed its destruction, and implements the Convention through the Chemical Weapons Convention Act, 2000.

3. Resolution 1540 and India's WMD Act

• Resolution 1540 (2004). Adopted under Chapter VII, it requires all states to refrain from supporting non-state actors seeking weapons of mass destruction and to adopt effective laws and controls against their proliferation.
• WMD Act, 2005. The Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act, 2005 prohibits unlawful activities relating to such weapons, including transfers to non-state actors, and controls exports of related goods and technology.
• 2022 amendment. Inserted section 12A, prohibiting the financing of any prohibited activity relating to weapons of mass destruction and empowering the Central Government to freeze funds.

4. Terrorism

• No agreed definition. There is no comprehensive treaty defining terrorism; the law developed through sectoral conventions dealing with specific acts.

Figure 4: Main sectoral conventions

• Resolution 1373 (2001). Adopted after the attacks of 11 September 2001 under Chapter VII, it obliges all states to criminalise the financing of terrorism, freeze terrorist assets and deny safe haven, and set up the Counter-Terrorism Committee.
• 1267 sanctions regime. Imposes asset freezes, travel bans and arms embargoes on listed individuals and entities associated with Al-Qaida and ISIL; Masood Azhar was listed in May 2019.
• CCIT. India proposed a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism in 1996; negotiations have stalled over the definition, in particular the treatment of armed forces and national liberation movements.
• Indian law. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, as amended, the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008 and statutes implementing the sectoral conventions, such as the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Maritime Navigation and Fixed Platforms on Continental Shelf Act, 2002.

5. Frequently Asked Questions

Why is India not a party to the NPT?

Because India considers the treaty discriminatory: it recognises only five states, which tested before 1967, as nuclear-weapon states, and imposes obligations on others without a binding timetable for those five to disarm.

Is there an international definition of terrorism?

No comprehensive treaty definition exists. Sectoral conventions define particular acts, and Article 2 of the Terrorist Financing Convention, 1999 contains a general description, but the draft Comprehensive Convention proposed by India has not been agreed.

6. Related Topics

• Topic 31: Outer Space Law. Weapons in space.
• Topic 50: Use of Force and Self-Defence. Self-defence against terrorism.
• Topic 51: Collective Security. Chapter VII resolutions.