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Q88·GS Paper 1 · Prelims 2015

Nuclear weapons states under NPT

IRNuclear Non-Proliferation TreatyStatement-basedHardStatic

Question

Consider the following countries:

1China
2France
3India
4Israel
5Pakistan

Which among the above are Nuclear Weapons States as recognized by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)?

  1. 1.

    China

  2. 2.

    France

  3. 3.

    India

  4. 4.

    Israel

  5. 5.

    Pakistan

Options

a

1 and 2 only

Answer
b

1, 3, 4 and 5 only

c

2, 4 and 5 only

d

1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

Explanation

Under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), only five countries are officially recognized as Nuclear Weapons States (those that exploded nuclear devices before January 1, 1967): China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and USA. India, Israel, and Pakistan are not recognized as Nuclear Weapons States under the NPT, even though they possess nuclear weapons. These three countries are considered 'de facto' nuclear weapons states but are not recognized under the NPT framework. Among the listed countries, only China (1) and France (2) are NPT-recognized Nuclear Weapons States. > Key Insight: NPT NWS = Only 5 (P5): USA, Russia, UK, France, China. India, Israel, Pakistan = outside NPT NWS framework (possessors but non-signatories). Answer: (a).

Question details

Year

2015

Paper

GS Paper 1

Question

Q88

Subject

International Relations

Sub-topic

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

Type

Statement-based

Difficulty

Hard

Nature

Static

Source hint

NPT Treaty; International Relations 2015

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