Humanity a step away from nuclear annihilation

United Nations: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that one mistake could lead humanity to nuclear destruction, against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and nuclear threats in Asia and the Middle East. On Monday, an international conference for countries signed up to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty started in New York. At the opening of this conference, the Secretary General of the United Nations warned about nuclear annihilation and made aware of the growing threat of nuclear weapons. Last year, a report released by the Swedish research group SIPRI revealed an increase in the number of nuclear weapons deployed by nine nuclear-armed countries worldwide. Against this background, this meeting and the warning issued by the Secretary-General is noteworthy.

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was designed to reduce the number of nuclear weapons on Earth. But not all the countries of the world have signed this agreement yet. Non-signatory countries have suggested various changes to it.

A comprehensive meeting was organized for these changes seven years ago. However, the meeting failed to reach a consensus on the agreement. Against this backdrop, a new conference has been organized on the initiative of the United Nations from Monday. Sources informed that this conference would continue for a month and there will be extensive discussion on various points of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act.

The conference started on Monday with the speech of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres. At this time, he pointed to the growing nuclear threat in the world. ‘For the first time since the Cold War, the threat of nuclear weapons appears to have increased significantly. Nuclear weapons being developed for geopolitical intentions are scaling new heights. At present, there are about 13 thousand nuclear weapons in the world. Various countries of the world are spending billions of dollars on nuclear weapons. But the assurance of security given by it is deceptive. The risk of proliferation of nuclear weapons is increasing and the factors necessary to prevent this proliferation are weakening,’ Guterres warned. At the same time, the Secretary-General also pointed out that the threat of using nuclear weapons in the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, Korean region and Ukraine is also looming large.

Earlier this year, the permanent member states of the Security Council issued a joint statement on the prevention of nuclear war and the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. ‘The use of nuclear weapons can have far-reaching consequences. Therefore, they should be used for defensive purposes only. Its aim should be to prevent the conflict from escalating and to avoid war. The increase in the number of nuclear weapons should be stopped,’ the statement read.