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Fears of an arms race grow as US and Russia suspend INF Treaty

Published on February 06, 2019
After the United States announced its withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, Russia has followed the suit and declared the suspension of the treaty.
Fears of an arms race grow as US and Russia suspend INF Treaty
  • Defence analysts fear about the arms race due to the suspension of the treaty.

About the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty:

  • Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty was signed by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in December 1987.
  • The treaty prohibited the United States and the Soviet Union from possessing, testing and deploying ground-launched cruise and ballistic missiles of ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometres (300 to 3,400 miles).
  • The treaty covered all types of ground-launched cruise and ballistic missiles whether their payload is conventional or nuclear.
  • The treaty exempted the air-launched and sea-based missile systems in the same range.
  • Under the treaty, both US and Russia had destroyed 846 and 1,846 missiles respectively.

How did the INF treaty played a distinctly significant role in diffusing tensions of war?

  • Due to the limited range, short flight times and unpredictable flight patterns, it was difficult to detect the short and medium ranges missiles.
  • As a result, there was a threat of nuclear war in Europe which is sandwiched between Russia and US.
  • The missiles were designed chiefly to fight a theatre nuclear war in Europe.
  • It exacerbated crisis instability and increased the chances of an accidental nuclear war.
  • Hence the destruction of these missiles under the provisions of the INF treaty was highly beneficial towards enhancing both regional and global security.

How would things pan out now?

  • Both Russia and US would indulge in the development of these short and medium ranges missiles.
  • There could be an arms race with EU joining the race as a third entity.
  • Since these missiles are mobile, hard to detect, nuclear-capable and can reach European cities they have hardly any warning time at all so they reduce the threshold for any potential use of nuclear weapons in a conflict.
  • This would lead to instability and trust deficit.

Question:

Q. After the United States announced its withdrawal, Russia has followed the suit and declared the suspension of which treaty?
a. Long-Range Nuclear Forces (LNF) Treaty
b. Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty
c. Medium-Range Nuclear Forces (MNF) Treaty
d. Small-Range Nuclear Forces (SNF) Treaty
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