UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday, September 26, cautioned that the world was descending into a fresh nuclear arms race and sounded the alarm about the looming specter of “total destruction” hovering over the globe.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday that the world was plunging into a new nuclear arms race and warned of the shadow of “annihilation” hanging over the world.
With nuclear-armed nations expanding and modernizing their arsenals, the UN chief called for a revitalized push to reduce and eventually eliminate those weapons.
In June the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reported that the world’s nuclear powers, and China in particular, increased investment in their arsenals for a third consecutive year in 2022.
While the total number of nuclear warheads held by Britain, China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia and the United States had fallen about 1.6% to 12,512 over the previous year, SIPRI said the declining trend was on the cusp of a reversal.
Excluding warheads slated for dismantling, the number of usable nuclear weapons had actually increased, according to SIPRI.
The bulk of the increase was in China, which increased its stockpile from 350 to 410 warheads.
Meanwhile North Korea has ramped up its testing of its force for delivering nuclear weapons, like long-range missiles and submarines.
He said nuclear powers are making their arsenals faster, more accurate, and more difficult to detect.
Guterres said the architecture for stopping nuclear proliferation and advancing disarmament has eroded.
The UN leader urged reinvigoration and strengthening of the Treaties on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
And he urged implementation of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1996 but still not in force because several key countries have not joined in.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
