50th anniversary of the Biological Weapons Convention
- India hosted the international conference “50 Years of BWC: Strengthening Biosecurity for the Global South” in New Delhi to mark the 50th anniversary of the Biological Weapons Convention’s entry into force.
About Biological Weapons Convention
- The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) is the world’s first multilateral disarmament treaty banning an entire category of weapons of mass destruction.
- It prohibits the development, production, stockpiling, acquisition, transfer and use of biological and toxin weapons.
- Genesis: Negotiated in Geneva, Switzerland within the Eighteen Nation Committee on Disarmament (ENDC) and Conference of the Committee on Disarmament (CCD) from 1969 until 1971.
- Opened for signature in 1972 and entered into force in 1975.
- Membership: Almost universal membership with 188 States Parties (India signed and ratified in 1974) and 4 Signatory States (Egypt, Haiti, Somalia, Syrian Arab Republic).
- 5 States– Israel, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea and Kiribati have neither signed nor acceded to the Convention.
