By Sardar Khan Niazi
The world has recently marked the annual International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons but nuclear blackmailing and military intimidation are on the surge in the modern-day world.
Nations who enjoy possession of discriminatory powers at the United Nations are palpably using such pressure tactics because they have no fear of any possible judgment or denunciation by the global forum.
Right now, the war in Ukraine along with the US-China rivalry over Taiwan has cast serious risks for the use of nuclear weapons by the belligerent nations because no nuclear power will easily accept its defeat and will likely use deadly weapons as last resort to deprive it the enemy of enjoying a sense of victory against it.
In reality, the world faces manifold threats to its peace because the global political agendas of major powers are abruptly sliding the world into turmoil, and insecurity, while the United Nations is not condemning the aggressive attitudes and hegemonic designs of powerful nations thus the world purely affirms the quotation that might is always right.
Presently, the UN Chief is proactively sensitizing the world about the nuclear dangers and urging the countries to use every avenue of dialogue, diplomacy, and negotiation to ease tensions, reduce risk and eliminate the nuclear threat.
Guterres gave emphasis to the need for a new vision for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, which he has particularly highlighted in his newly perceived Agenda for Peace formula.
Although, he timely echoes the hazards to world peace the voice of the powerless never strikes the ears of the influential who are used to preemptive war instead of preemptive dialogue. The UN Chief has condemned the rattling of nuclear sabers and called for the end of nuclear blackmail and recommitment to peace.
Guterres was speaking at an event to commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, held as the annual debate in the UN General Assembly.
Nuclear weapons are the most destructive power ever created that offers no security just a scene of carnage and mayhem. The elimination of these weapons would be the greatest gift we could bestow on future generations.
The Cold War had brought humanity within minutes of annihilation, while decades after it ended, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the world once again hears the rattling of nuclear sabers. Any use of a nuclear weapon would incite a humanitarian Armageddon.
Unfortunately, the conference held last month to review the landmark Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the only binding commitment to the goal of disarmament by States, which officially stockpile nuclear weapons, ended without any consensus document after four-week long deliberation among the members of the accord.
Three decades after the cold war, the world is entering another global war game that is clearly defining the world into two blocs.
The United States and the European nations, Canada, and the Oceania nations, along with their few South and East Asian allies are consolidating their ranks against Russia and China, while North Korea is likely to side with its Asian neighbors against its staunch rival in this grand finale.
There are nearly 14,000 nuclear weapons stockpiled around the world. The luck the world has enjoyed so far in avoiding a nuclear catastrophe may not last and the world needs to renew a push toward eliminating all such weapons.
The international tensions are reaching new highs. The invasion of Ukraine and tensions on the Korean peninsula and in the Middle East bear witness to this scenario.
There is a dire need of strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime negotiations and engagement is the only way forward to resolve the global security challenges of the contemporary world.
