NPT:- Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
NPT stands for Non-Proliferation Treaty or The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. It is an international treaty which aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to attain the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament. It was negotiated by the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament, an organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. It was signed on 1 July 1968 and came into effect on 5 March 1970. According to this treaty, nuclear-weapon states are those that have built and tested a nuclear explosive device before 1 January 1967. They are the United States (1945), Russia (1949), the United Kingdom (1952), France (1960) and China (1964). 3 states which have openly tested and declared that they possess nuclear weapons are India, Pakistan, and North Korea while Israel remains ambiguous regarding its nuclear weapons status.