'India willing to work with US to discourage N-proliferation'

Notwithstanding differences its has with the US on the issue of non-proliferation, India has said it is willing to work with the Obama Administration on "practical steps" to discourage the spread of nuclear weapons.

"While reserving our position on a question of principle, we would be prepared to work together with the US and other friendly countries on practical steps to discourage proliferation," Shyam Saran, prime minister's Special Envoy, said addressing Brookings Institution, a prestigious Washington-based think tank.

Welcoming US president Barack Obama's declared intention to strengthen international non-proliferation efforts, Saran said India is willing to work with the US and the rest of the international community in building new, effective and credible non-proliferation architecture.

The new US Administration, he observed, has acknowledged a key element of the Indian approach: that efforts at ensuring global non-proliferation, horizontally to additional states, are unlikely to succeed unless they are linked, integrally, with visible and concrete progress towards nuclear disarmament.