India is disappointed that a new report on a world free of nukes released harps on the old concept of shoring up the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
India is disappointed that a new report on a world free of nukes released on Tuesday harps on the old concept of shoring up the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT).
Delhi has refused to sign the “flawed and discriminatory” treaty and believes it will be pressured to show commitment to non-proliferation by at least signing the comprehensive test ban treaty at the NPT review meet in April 2010.
US president Barack Obama is zealous about non-proliferation and outlined his vision for a nuclear-weapons-free world earlier this year. British PM Gordon Brown is also a strong advocate of worldwide elimination of nukes.
Delhi knows non-proliferation is high on Obama’s agenda and pressure to do more will increase in the run-up to the review meet. Japan, Australia, S Africa, Brazil and Argentina, which abandoned their n-weapons programmes, are uneasy that India has managed to have its cake and eat it too. They want Delhi to sign NPT. But the US and Russia know India will never do so. In fact, the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND) acknowledges this.
The ICNND report proposed by Aussie PM Kevin Rudd and Japan’s former PM Fukuda in July 2008 to invigorate the move for nuclear non-proliferation advocates delegitimisation of nukes and suggests the eight “nuclear-armed states” adopt a no-first-use policy. India has declared after its 1998 tests that it would not use such weapons against non-nuclear states or make first use.
India’s excellent non-proliferation record in comparison to the US, the UK, France, China and Russia has not been adequately reflected. It has been lumped together with China and Pakistan.
Just before the review meet, Obama has called for a nuclear security summit in Washington and Manmohan Singh has promised to attend. The focus will be on securing nuclear material and combating atomic smuggling.
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