The United Nations Security Council and Financial Action Task Force of which India is a part recommended all the countries amend the law against the financing and delivery system of such weapons.
Authors
Abhinav Mehrotra, Assistant Professor, Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Biswanath Gupta, Associate Professor, Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Summary
The recent bill introduced by the Foreign Minister of India S. Jaishankar on the 7th of April 2022 seeks to prohibit the financing of weapons of mass destruction.
This bill allows the government to freeze and seize the assets of people involved in such activities. This bill is an amendment to the existing legislation of the Weapon of Mass Destruction and Delivery System Prohibition of Unlawful Activities Act 2005.
The previous Act of 2005 does not include the financial aspects of the Weapon of Mass Destruction delivery system. Therefore, Amendment Bill 2022 included a new provision to control the financial aspect and to meet India’s international obligations.
The justification cited for the amended Bill is that it will strengthen national security and India’s reputation globally. In this respect, the threats posed by nuclear weapons, chemical weapons, and biological weapons need to be investigated. Since 9/11, global communities have become more vigilant in the delivery and transfer of weapons of mass destruction.
India is known to possess nuclear weapons along with a rich repository of chemical weapons. Though India has never been vocal about its nuclear weapons and is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty 1968 but it has never used nuclear weapons as a means of aggression.
This fact is further substantiated by the fact that India has signed and ratified both the Biological and Chemical Weapon Convention.
Published in: Indiatimes
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