Nuclear Free World Policy
These countries are weary of nuclear weapons’ deployment above everything else. Although 8 states are exempted from ban on nuclear weapons, 5 nations retain a de jure status of a “nuclear weapon state.” These states are the United States of America, the United Kingdom, the People’s Republic of China, France and Russia—all of whom had already tested nuclear weapons before the NPT was signed. NWS’s right to possess a nuclear arsenal is countered by Article VI of the treaty, which says that they have a legal obligation to eventually disarm. They also criticized NWS countries for failing to meet their obligation to disarm, in addition to criticizing the 3 states non-signatory nuclear weapons-capable states (which are considered de facto nuclear weapons states). This was stated in point 4 of the Joint Declaration of 1998:
Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty
The treaty includes a protocol under which the five nuclear-weapon states recognized by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), namely China, the United States, France, Russia and the United Kingdom (who are also the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council) undertake to respect the Treaty and do not contribute to a violation of it by State parties. None of the nuclear-weapon states have signed this protocol.