Explained: Why the threat of biological warfare still looms large

The international law on biological weapons is quite clear - it says they should not exist. But, despite the progress made by international conventions - the threat is far from over.

It's rare for all countries around the world to agree to something, but the Biological Weapons Convention is perhaps one of the few things that the world can agree on. Signed in 1972, this convention banned the development, production and stockpiling of an entire category of all forms of biological weapons.

More than 180 countries in the world are party to this convention today. Biological warfare is one of the few areas where most countries agreed to not only disallow the use but to destroy their own arsenal as well.

In 1969, the then US President, Richard Nixon, decided to eliminate America's stockpiles of biological weapons, and major powers like the UK and Russia followed suit.

India ratified the biological weapons convention in 1997 when it also declared that it possessed a stockpile of sulfur mustard. Its destruction was completed in 2009. In the 20th century, most countries gave up their biological weapons programmes.

However, the spectre of biological weapons issomehow back to haunt humanity in the 21st century. On papers, no country is openly pursuing biological weapons today. But, some recent breakthroughs in science have heightened tensions. Innovations in gene editing and synthetic biology may give birth to a new age of biological weapons. Scientific breakthroughs are exposing the gaps in the Biological Weapons Convention.

It's possible that some states could be experimenting with biological weapons, even non-state actors have tried to develop them. It is believed that 6 countries, in particular, might have an ongoing bioweapons programme - Iraq, Iran, Libya, China, Russia, and North Korea.

The need of the hour is for a fresh global consensus to strengthen the rules against bioweapons. And India should be a part of this conversation.

Growing border conflicts with Pakistan and China's advancedgene-editing raisethe threat levels. Considering the close relationship between Beijing and Islamabad, New Delhi must take note of the growing global concerns over bioweapons.