Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf *
“Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat,
Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad,
Evil appears as good in the minds of those whom gods lead to destruction.”
VIENNA (IDN) -– On 22 January 2021, the Treaty on the Prohibition on Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) becomes international law in accordance with international legal principles underpinned by the United Nations Charter and the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. Dreading this eventuality, the nuclear-armed States and the “captive nations” in alliances backed by nuclear weapons are panicking and resorting to unhinged arguments against this treaty adopted by 122 of 193 UN Member States on 7 July 2017 – it has been signed by 84 and ratified by 50 States.