The Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Bill, 2022, introduced by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 1 August 2022.
Key highlights
- The Bill forbids anybody from funding any unlawful action involving WMDs and their delivery systems.
- The Bill seeks to ban funding of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and gives the Centre the power to freeze, seize or attach financial assets of persons involved in such activities.
- The Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act, passed in 2005, only banned manufacture of weapons of mass destruction and financing was not covered in this act.
- The amendment bill seeks to insert a new Section 12A in the existing law which states that “no person shall finance any activity which is prohibited under this Act, or under the United Nations (Security Council) Act, 1947 or any other relevant Act for the time being in force, or by an order issued under any such Ac.
What are Weapons of Mass Destruction?
- International law does not have a single, definitive definition of a WMD, but the term is typically used to refer to nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) weapons.
- A weapon of mass destruction is defined in Section 4(p) of the WMD Act as a general term used for a class of weapons that includes nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.
Treaties and conventions
- Over the years, a number of international conventions and accords have been formed to limit the use of NBC weapons.
- These include the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972, the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1992, and the Geneva Protocol of 1925, all of which forbade the use of chemical and biological weapons.
- The 1972 and 1992 treaties have both been signed and ratified by India.
- The Stockholm Convention, ratified by India on 13.01.2006, is a global treaty to protect human health and environment from Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).
- Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent Procedures (PIC) that entered into force on 24th February, 2004, is a legally binding instrument, which was adopted on 10th September 1998 by a Conference of Plenipotentiaries in Rotterdam. India acceded to the Convention on 24.05.2006.
