Development of a comprehensive programme of disarmament

Within the framework of the ultimate goal of general and complete disarmament, primary emphasis through some 20 years has been given to the need for effective measures to halt the nuclear arms race and achieve nuclear disarmament. Many proposals have been offered combining outlines for reductions in armaments by stages, usually commencing with restraints on nuclear armaments, but with variations as to which types of arms or armed forces should be reduced first, numerical limits to be set, time limits, and methods of control. The 1961 joint statement of agreed principles for future disarmament negotiations' and the draft treaties of the Soviet Union and the United States on general and complete disarmament submitted in 1962 to the Eighteen-Nation Committee on Disarmament have remained a basis of discussion on the subject and are generally considered as forerunners of subsequent efforts to develop a comprehensive programme of disarmament.

Related Subject(s): Disarmament