The Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space, and Under Water, often abbreviated as the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT), Limited Test Ban Treaty' ('LTBT'), or Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (NTBT), although the former also refers to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), is a treaty intended to obtain an agreement on general and complete disarmament under strict international control in accordance with the objectives of the United Nations; to put an end to the armaments race and eliminate incentives for the production and testing of all kinds of weapons, including nuclear weapons.
The Partial TestBanTreaty (PTBT) banned the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, in outer space, and underwater.
Although the treaty does not bantests underground, it does prohibit explosions below the surface if they cause "radioactive debris to be present outside the territorial limits of the State under whose jurisdiction or control" the explosions were conducted.
The Comprehensive TestBanTreaty (CTBT) was drafted to succeed the PTBT and totally eliminate the testing of nuclear weapons worldwide.
Spurred by nuclear testing moratoria enacted by Russia, France, and the United States, and strong civil society support in the early 1990s, multilateral negotiations on the Comprehensive TestBanTreaty (CTBT) were concluded in August 1996, and the treaty was opened for signature at the United Nations September 24, 1996.
Testbantreaty signature and ratification by India and Pakistan would not eliminate their existing nuclear capabilities; however, it would rule out further development and operational deployment of new thermonuclear weapons that could be delivered on longer-range systems, thus dampening a destabilizing arms race in the region.
Reaffirming the hope for a treaty that "would contribute to systematic and progressive reduction of nuclear weaponsÂ…as a major instrument in the field of nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation," they called on all states who are holding out on signing and/or ratifying to do so to ensure the treaty's timely entry into force.
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