Nuclear Arsenal Spending Worldwide Jumped By $1.4Bln In 2020 Amid COVID-19 - Report

In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic raged across the world, the nine nuclear-armed powers spent about $72.6 billion on their nuclear arsenals, boosting their overall spending on atomic weapons by $1.4 billion compared to 2019, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons said on Monday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th June, 2021) In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic raged across the world, the nine nuclear-armed powers spent about $72.6 billion on their nuclear arsenals, boosting their overall spending on atomic weapons by $1.4 billion compared to 2019, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons said on Monday.

"While hospital beds filled up with patients, doctors and nurses worked over hours and basic medical supplies ran scarce, nine countries found they had more than $72 billion on hand for their weapons of mass destruction, $1.4 billion more than last year," the campaign said in its report.

The US tops the ICAN list, spending $37.4 billion, which is more than the other eight countries put together. This accounts for roughly five percent of the US total military spending in 2020, according to the document. China is in second place and is believed to have spent about $10 billion on its nuclear arsenal.

In general, every minute of the year the world's nine nuclear powers - the US, China, Russia, the UK, France, India, Israel, Pakistan and North Korea - were spending $137,666 on nuclear weapons, the ICAN concluded.

"The current pandemic clearly demonstrates that a global threat requires a global response.

Governments should recognize dire human security needs that the pandemic has brought about and cooperate in working to save lives, rather than developing and investing for weapons of mass killings," Akira Kawasaki, a member of ICAN's International Steering Group, told Sputnik.

According to Kawasaki, funds spent on the nuclear arsenal would be better spent on medical care and medical infrastructure, as well as on measures to help alleviate the suffering of those most affected by the pandemic.

"In doing so, promoting international cooperation that proactively address global inequalities is an imperative. Money should also be spent on preventing, not promoting, military conflicts and violence that threaten the lives of citizens across the world," he added.

Kawasaki called upon the countries to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons which came into effect in January this year.

"If countries do not act promptly, the Doomsday Clock will only move closer to midnight. Determined decision-making and bold actions towards nuclear disarmament is needed more than ever before," Kawasaki concluded.