United Nations Security Council resolution 1172, adopted unanimously on 6 June 1998, after hearing of

nuclear tests Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected by ...

conducted by

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in May 1998, the Council condemned the tests and demanded that both countries refrain from engaging in further tests.

Resolution

The Security Council began by stating that all the proliferation of

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

s posed a threat to international peace and security. It was concerned at the tests conducted by India and Pakistan and of a potential

arms race An arms race occurs when two or more groups compete in military superiority. It consists of a competition between two or more states to have superior armed forces; a competition concerning production of weapons, the growth of a military, and t ...

in South Asia. The importance of the

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation ...

(NPT), the

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a multilateral treaty to ban nuclear weapons test explosions and any other nuclear explosions, for both civilian and military purposes, in all environments. It was adopted by the United Nations ...

(CTBT) and the dismantling of nuclear weapons was emphasised. The Security Council condemned the Indian

Pokhran-II The Pokhran-II tests were a series of five nuclear bomb test explosions conducted by India at the Indian Army's Pokhran Test Range in May 1998. It was the second instance of nuclear testing conducted by India; the first test, code-named ''Smil ...

test on 11 and 13 May and the Pakistani

Chagai-I Chagai-I is the code name of five simultaneous underground nuclear tests conducted by Pakistan at 15:15 hrs PKT on 28 May 1998. The tests were performed at Ras Koh Hills in the Chagai District of Balochistan Province. Chagai-I was Pakistan' ...

test on 28 and 30 May. It demanded that both countries stop testing immediately and asked all countries to no longer carry out nuclear weapons tests. India and Pakistan were also asked to show restraint, refrain from provocative moves and to resume dialogue. Both countries were also called upon to cease their nuclear weapons programmes, cease developing

ballistic missile A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are guided only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles stay within the ...

s and

fissile material In nuclear engineering, fissile material is material capable of sustaining a nuclear fission chain reaction. By definition, fissile material can sustain a chain reaction with neutrons of thermal energy. The predominant neutron energy may be ty ...

. All countries were urged to prohibit the export of equipment, materials or technology that could in any way assist programmes in either country. The resolution recognised that the tests constituted a serious threat towards global

non-proliferation Nuclear proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons, fissionable material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information to nations not recognized as " Nuclear Weapon States" by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Wea ...

and

disarmament Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, such as n ...

. In return for ending their nuclear programmes, the Security Council had offered to help in the settlement of the

Kashmir conflict The Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict over the Kashmir region, primarily between India and Pakistan, with China playing a third-party role. The conflict started after the partition of India in 1947 as both India and Pakistan claim ...

Reaction

The two countries involved reacted angrily to the adoption of the resolution, with the Indian Foreign Ministry describing it as "coercive and unhelpful" while Pakistan said the presence of nuclear weapons in South Asia is now a fact. However, the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

noted that the "UN Security Council has recognised that bilateral dialogue has to be the basis of India–Pakistan relations and mutually acceptable solutions have to be found for outstanding issues including

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

. This is in keeping with our position."6 June Security Council Resolution, 8 June Indian Response & 6 June Pakistani Response
Responses of India and Pakistan to Resolution 1172.

References

External links

*
Text of the Resolution at undocs.org
{{UNSCR 1998 1998 in Pakistan Nuclear history of Pakistan Nuclear history of India 1172 1172 1172 1172 June 1998 events

Resolution

Reaction

See also

References

External links