Nuclear Non-proliferation regime has come under tremendous strain in the last few months and it is not clear if it can be salvaged unblemished. The strains had come into sharp relief ever since India and Pakistan tested their nuclear devices in 1998, thereby challenging the extant global nuclear order. But the international community led by the United States found that challenge manageable.

Today, new challenges have arisen from all sides and the same US-led international community seems to have no idea how to respond. North Korea has already declared that it possesses nuclear weapons while Iran seems to be moving steadfastly in the same direction. Moreover, US intelligence is suggesting increasing complicity between these two so-called "rogue" states. There is evidence that Iran is providing North Korea with data from its missile tests to enable Pyongyang to make improvements in its own missile systems. On the other hand, North Korea may be supplying Iran with engineering suggestions for further testing. North Korea may also be trying to raise hard currency by peddling its nuclear missile technology in the global black market.

Though the US has repeatedly made it clear that it would not tolerate either Iran or North Korea possessing nuclear weapons, it does not have a clear strategy to deal with either. There is a real danger that if nothing is done with regard to Iran and North Korea, other states like Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Taiwan, Japan, and Brazil may be tempted to go nuclear. Moreover, with nations willing to trade their nuclear and missile technologies in the global black market, there is a real danger of these technologies falling into the hands of terrorists.

The US has tried to tackle the North Korean problem by relying on its neighbors - China, South Korea, Russia, and Japan. But these six-party talks have yielded little as different countries have different interests and a unanimous position has not yet evolved. Iran is being dealt with primarily by the European triumvirate – the British, the French and, the Germans – with the Americans warning time and again that no option, including the military one, would be off the negotiating table. The Europeans, however, are more interested in a negotiated settlement with Iran.

It should be clear to even the lay observer that the nuclear non-proliferation regime has been a mute spectator of these recent developments. In fact, Iran has used its right as a member of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes to move towards nuclear weapons. And North Korea casually walked out of the NPT when it realized that the treaty was becoming an impediment to its acquisition of nuclear weapons. The world has also taken note of the fact that India and Pakistan have become members of the global nuclear order without ever bowing to the pressures of the NPT.

The NPT was always a flawed document in many ways and various countries, including India, had pointed to its flaws over the years. The recent global developments make it amply clear that unless a thorough review is undertaken of the NPT, it would soon become a paper tiger, if it has not already. Given the horrors of 11 September 2001, the danger of nuclear terrorism, and the prospect of numerous Irans and North Koreas just a screwdriver turn away from nuclear weapons, it is time for the international community to promote a bolder nuclear arrangement than the NPT of 1968.

India has always been dissatisfied with the global non-proliferation and arms control regime because it constrained its autonomy to make foreign policy decisions as dictated by national interests. India argued that an inequitable regime that gave only a few countries the permanent right to have nuclear weapons, and denied others this right was inherently unstable. There are reasons for India to feel vindicated by its long-held stance on these issues. Today, as the global nuclear non-proliferation regime crumbles under the weight of its own contradictions, India can rightfully claim that it was one of the first states to draw the attention of the world community to these challenges.

A radically new global security architecture is needed to tackle the emerging problem of proliferation and terrorism. The old security structure has failed and it is time this gets recognized if the world hopes to tackle the emerging challenges. India along with the older nuclear powers should rise to the challenge and offer ideas on a new framework for international security suitable for the 21st century. Typically, world powers not only challenge the status-quo that is inimical to their interests but also provide responsible alternatives to manage the challenges facing the globe. It is time for India to respond to its rising global profile.