2015 NPT Review Conference: Expectations and Challenges
2015 NPT Review Conference: Expectations and Challenges
The roundtable was organized as part of the Centre’s Project JOHAR, which aims at promoting a better understanding of the contemporary nuclear debate through converging and synthesizing different perspectives in the second nuclear age. Its aims included understanding the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) debate contemporaneously among the participants; critically analyzing its review process and the challenges that the upcoming Review Conference (RevCon) would be facing. Two esteemed experts, Dr. Tughral Yamin, Associate Dean at the Peace and Conflict Studies department, NUST and Munawar Saeed Bhatti, former Ambassador to the EU, Luxembourg and Belgium, graced the occasion and spoke on the subject at great length followed by a spirited discussion on various aspects of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty and regime. The discussion was chaired by former Defence Secretary of Pakistan, General (R) Asif Yasin Malik HI(M).
In this context, the issues relating to nuclear disarmament, right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy and prevention of the spread of nuclear weapons were very coherently discussed. The main challenges faced by the NPT review process, i.e., modernization of nuclear forces by P-5, nuclear weapons free zone (NWFZ) establishment in the Middle East, progress on the 2010 action plan of the NPT RevCon and Iran’s nuclear programme were raised during the debate. The ‘exceptionalism’ approach exercised by the international community in implementing the nuclear nonproliferation norms came under criticism. The participants observed that the NPT is seriously eroding because of issues of noncompliance by state parties. The emerging geo-political issues, selective application in implementation of NPT clauses and the recommendations of 2010 NPT RevCons may become a pitfall for the upcoming 2015 NPT RevCon.
The roundtable was successful in producing a comprehensive and insightful analysis with the aid ofeminent scholars, practitioners and academics regarding the issues faced by the NPT RevCon process.
[column col=”1/4″]Chair[/column][column col=”3/4″]Lt Gen (R) Asif Yasin Malik, HI (M)
Former Defence Secretary[/column]
[column col=”1/4″]Speakers[/column][column col=”3/4″]Dr. Tughral Yamin
Associate Dean at Peace and Conflict studies department, NUST
Ambassador (R)Munawar Saeed Bhatti
Former Ambassador to EU, Luxembourg and Belgium[/column]
[download file=”http://cpakgulf.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/NPT-Roundtable.pdf”]