Read the passage and answer the questions:
Traditional views of security do not rule out other forms of cooperation as well. The most important of these are disarmament, arms control, and confidence building. The 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) and the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) banned the production and possession of these weapons. More than 155 states acceded to the BWC and 193 states acceded to the CWC. Both conventions included all the great powers. But the superpowers — the US and Soviet Union — did not want to give up the third type of weapons of mass destruction, namely, nuclear weapons, so they pursued arms control.
Arms control regulates the acquisition or development of weapons. The Anti-ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in 1972 tried to stop the United States and Soviet Union from using ballistic missiles as a defensive shield to launch a nuclear attack. While it did allow both countries to deploy a very limited number of defensive systems, it stopped them from large-scale production of those systems.
The US and Soviet Union signed a number of other arms control treaties including the Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty II or SALT II and the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968 was an arms control treaty in the sense that it regulated the acquisition of nuclear weapons: those countries that had tested and manufactured nuclear weapons before 1967 were allowed to keep their weapons; and those that had not done so were to give up the right to acquire them. The NPT did not abolish nuclear weapons; rather, it limited the number of countries that could have them.
Which of the following is correct about the Anti-Ballistic Missiles Treaty of 1972?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → It tried to stop the use of ballistic missile defence system by the US and the Soviet Union
Option (1) It prevented the US and the Soviet Union from developing more nuclear weapons — Incorrect. The ABM Treaty was about defensive missile systems, not the development of nuclear weapons.
Option (2) It tried to stop the use of ballistic missile defence system by the US and the Soviet Union — Correct. The ABM Treaty of 1972 tried to stop the United States and Soviet Union from using ballistic missiles as a defensive shield to launch a nuclear attack; it allowed a very limited number of defensive systems but stopped their large-scale production.
Option (3) It prevented the US and the Soviet Union from deploying more nuclear weapons — Incorrect. The treaty limited defensive systems, not the deployment of nuclear weapons.
Option (4) It tried to prevent the US and the Soviet Union from attacking each other’s missile — Incorrect. It did not deal with attacks on each other’s missiles; it limited missile defence systems.
NCERT: Contemporary World Politics — Chapter 5: Security in the Contemporary World (2025-26)
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