The United Nation's top court on Wednesday rejected a claim brought by the Marshall Islands against Britain, India and Pakistan that they were not doing enough to halt a nuclear arms race.

The ICJ ruled that the tiny Pacific island nation had failed to prove a dispute existed between it and the three nuclear-armed states when the case was filed in 2014.  The ICJ ruled it had no jurisdiction in the case.

The Marshall Islands originally filed cases against all nuclear-armed powers: The U.S., Russia, Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea. 

The case was then reduced to claims brought against Britain, India and Pakistan after the initial proceedings of the court.

The Marshall Islands was trying to force the nuclear powers to adhere to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons from 1970.

In the 1940s and 1950s, the United States conducted several nuclear tests on the atolls of the Marshall Islands.

ICJ Court President Ronny Abraham said the Marshall Islands nonetheless had an interest in nuclear disarmament "by virtue of the suffering of its people" during the US nuclear tests.

mz/ (Reuters, AFP, AP)