The Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty of 1968 was an _____.

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 1

The correct answer is Option (1) → Arms control treaty

Option (1) Arms control treaty — Correct. Arms control regulates the acquisition or development of weapons. The NPT of 1968 regulated the acquisition of nuclear weapons: the countries that had tested and manufactured nuclear weapons before 1967 were allowed to keep them, and those that had not were to give up the right to acquire them.

Option (2) Arms reduction treaty — Incorrect. The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) is one of the treaties signed by the US and the Soviet Union. The NPT did not make anyone reduce or give up the weapons they already had: it did not abolish nuclear weapons; it limited the number of countries that could have them.

Option (3) Arms availability treaty — Incorrect.

Option (4) Arms for developed country — Incorrect.

NCERT (2026-27): “Traditional Security and Cooperation … 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.…

… 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.”