This year marks the golden jubilee of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the silver jubilee of its indefinite extension. Legally binding in nature, this Treaty is often regarded as the bedrock of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime.
The Indian foreign minister SM Krishna’s four-nation visit to Israel, Jordan, Palestine and the UAE from January 8 to 11, 2012, has been seen as the beginning of a “new approach ” in India’s foreign policy towards West Asia in general and the Arab Gulf region in particular. India has unequivocally accepted the paradigm that the relations with both Palestine as well as Israel are equally significant to its core national interests.
All over the world, environmentalists and green activists are jubilant. Even the renowned international environmental organization Greenpeace is thrilled for its nomenclature when climate change has officially ‘securitized’ in the United Nations. But, traditional war theorists or security experts have kept an eerie silence over the historical development of the re-emergence of the ‘environmental security’ concept. Beyond its tradition, on April 17, the UN Security Council (UNSC) debated the impacts of climate change and its linkages to international security for the first time in history.
As per the UN High-Level Panel Report on Threats, Challenges, and Changes [titled ‘A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility’], two options were recommended for broadening the current representation of the UN Security Council. This was done primarily to provide geographical balance and change power equations since the end of World War II and the creation of the United Nations.
Just as India is vying for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council, Japan equally hopes for a larger role in the future of world affairs. Since Kofi Annan’s announcement in September 2004 of possibly increasing the permanent membership seats to nine from five, India and Japan, two of Asia’s powerhouses, pressed for their recognition. Indeed, one is the second most populous nation and the other holds the second largest economy, it seems fitting for them to have a say in future world affairs.