New START Comes into Force

• Formal name of the New START (for Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) is " Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms".
• It’s a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and the Russia, signed on April 8, 2010 in Prague.
• Now after ratification from both the sides, the treaty has entered into force on February 5, 2011. The treaty is expected to last till 2021.
• Though, the name is a follow up to START I, yet, the New START replaces the Treaty of Moscow (SORT), which was due to expire in December 2012. START-I was sealed in 1991 and expired in December 2009.
• There was a proposed START II, which never came into force.
• New START requires both sides to reduce their arsenal of warheads by roughly one-third of current levels – from 2,200 to 1,550.
• Both sides are to monitor each other’s nuclear weapons stockpiles.

Month: Current Affairs - February, 2011