The United Nations' International Court of Justice in The Hague on Wednesday dismissed cases filed by the Marshall Islands against India, Pakistan and Britain, accusing them of not complying with the 1968 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (which India is not a signatory to). The small group of islands in the Pacific had initially accused nine countries of not complying with the NPT, but the ICJ could only decide whether to take up the cases against the three nations.

In its lawsuit, Marshall Islands had accused nuclear powers of breaching their obligations under the treaty, even if they were not party to it. It said the countries had not done enough towards nuclear disarmament.

The case against India was the first to be heard in the matter. The court said Marshall Islands had failed to prove that it had a legal dispute over nuclear disarmament with India, Pakistan and Britain before the case was filed in 2014. "Consequently, the court lacks jurisdiction [in the case]," it ruled, according to AP.

The president of the UN court, Ronny Abraham, had to use his casting vote to make the decision on its jurisdictional authority in the case against Britain, as the 16 judges hearing the matter had reached a tie. The vote was nine-seven in the cases against India and Pakistan.

The Marshall Islands were destroyed by nuclear tests conducted by the United States after World War II till around 1958. The island nation was a US protectorate until 1986. Reports said as many as 67 bomb tests were conducted there, the impact of which the country's population feels even today. Several islands were completely vapourised by the tests.

The other nations – China, France, Israel, North Korea, Russia and the United States – did not recognise the ICJ's jurisdiction in the case, while Israel has not formally admitted to having nuclear warheads.