Nuclear Weapons Formally Banned

Signing of nuclear ban treaty is signal of changing world
Ludhiana, September 21, 2017: Expressing great satisfaction and joy over singing of the nuclear ban treaty by more than 50 countries on the first day of its opening for signatures at the UNO General Assembly in New York, the co-president of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) Dr Arun Mitra said that this a signal of change in the world arena. After long drawn negotiations in the UN the treaty was adopted by 122 votes in favour and only one in against on 7th July 2017. It has now become a formal document which prohibits the development, testing, production, possession, stockpiling, use, or threatened use of nuclear weapons. The Treaty completes the process of stigmatizing and delegitimizing nuclear weapons on the basis of their catastrophic health, environmental, and humanitarian impacts. It is time that the nine nuclear weapons possessing states who did not participate in the final negotiations to see the writing on the wall & respect the voice of the world and join this treaty to prevent the catastrophic effects of nuclear weapons from occurring. That such a large number of countries across the globe voted for the treaty despite all sorts of pressure by some nuclear weapon states, is in itself rejection of the hegemonic attitude of the nuclear weapons states. India, who has been harbinger of the peace movement as a leader of Non Aligned Movement (NAM) and has proposed Rajiv Gandhi Action Plan for nuclear disarmament should take a lead in this respect. This is a multilateral agreement and fulfills all the requirements needed for a comprehensive of this type.