Indian envoy T. S. Tirumurti on March 11 emphasised on following the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) at the UNSC meeting on Ukraine. The Indian envoy called for ‘full and effective implementation of the BTWC in letter and spirit” .
- The meeting came after a request from Russia, who claimed that the US is involved in bioweapon manufacture in the war-torn country, something that Washington has strongly dismissed.
What is Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC)?
- The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) effectively prohibits the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of biological and toxin weapons.
- It is a treaty that came into force in 1975. A total of 183 countries are party to the treaty that outlaws bioweapons, including US, Russia and Ukraine.
- It was the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning an entire category of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
What are Biological weapons?
- Biological weapons are microorganisms like virus, bacteria, fungi, or other toxins that are produced and released deliberately to cause disease and death in humans, animals or plants.
- Biological agents, like anthrax, botulinum toxin and plague can pose a difficult public health challenge causing large numbers of deaths in a short amount of time while being difficult to contain.
- Bioterrorism attacks could also result in an epidemic, for example if Ebola or Lassa viruses were used as the biological agents.
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