New Delhi, June 9 (ANI): Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh today spoke of the need for global nuclear disarmament while cautioning about the growing risk posed by nuclear weapons.
Inaugurating a conference on 'Towards a World Free of Nuclear Weapons' here, Dr. Manmohan Singh advocated the need for a collective approach in anchoring an international partnership to ensure universal nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation in a time-bound manner.
Underlining India's commitment towards nuclear disarmament, the Prime Minister said, "Painful reality is that the goal of global nuclear disarmament, based on the principles of universality, non-discrimination and effective compliance, still remains a distant one."
Dr. Singh also spoke of emergence of new threats and challenges posed by nuclear weapons to global security, particularly the fear of extremist forces laying their hands on nuclear weapons.
"I refer to the growing risk that nuclear weapons may be acquired by terrorists or those driven by extreme ideologies; the increasing danger of non-state actors, accessing nuclear materials and devices; the development of new weapon systems based on emerging technologies which pose challenges to space security and provide new roles for nuclear weapons; and the weakening of multilateralism even as bilateral arms control processes falter in shifting strategic landscapes," he said
The Prime Minister said India hoped that there would be an international environment in which nuclear technology is used not for destructive purposes, but for helping us meet our national development goals and our energy security.
"India had declared a doctrine of no first-use that is based on credible minimum deterrence and had in place strict controls on export of nuclear and fissile related materials and technology," he added.
He also stated that India has no intention to engage in an arms race with anyone and that it was fully committed to nuclear disarmament that is global, universal and non-discriminatory in nature. The pursuit of this goal will enhance not only our security but also the security of all other countries.
Dr. Singh also hoped that other countries would join India in commitment to nuclear disarmament and agree to a dialogue on the proposals New Delhi has made to the UN on nuclear disarmament.
"The proposals, which retain the "spirit and substance" of the Action Plan proposed by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1988, include reaffirmation of unequivocal commitment of all nuclear weapon states to the goal of complete elimination of atomic weapons and reduction of salience of nuclear weapons in security doctrines," he said.
The proposals also include negotiation of a global agreement on 'no-first-use' of nuclear weapons and a convention on complete prohibition of use or threat of use of nuclear weapons besides prohibition of production and stock-piling of nuclear weapons.
India has recently submitted a Working Paper on Nuclear Disarmament to the UN General Assembly, containing initiatives on nuclear disarmament, the Prime Minister added.
Oz PM calls for end to nuclear weapons
Melbourne, June 9 (ANI): Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, the first Western leader to visit Hiroshima after it was destroyed by an atomic bomb in 1945, has called for an end to nuclear weapons.
"Hiroshima should cause the world community to resolve afresh that all humankind must exert their every effort for peace in this 21st century,"' Rudd said.
"We, the people of the Asia-Pacific region, should resolve afresh to make this Asia-Pacific century a century of peace and, for the world at large, that we should aspire now for a world free of nuclear weapons," he added.
Rudd started his visit to Japan, aimed at easing doubts about his commitment to the two countries' alliance, with a tour of Hiroshima, where a partially destroyed dome lies as a memorial to the nuclear attack.
The Australian Prime Minister laid a wreath and toured a museum documenting the August 6, 1945 attack, News.com.au reported.
The US dropped an atomic bomb on the city, killing about 140,000 people either immediately or in the months that followed from radiation injuries or horrific burns.
Three days later, an even more powerful nuclear bomb flattened Nagasaki, killing another 70,000 people. Japan surrendered six days afterwards, ending World War II.
Rudd has taken a harder line on nuclear issues since taking office last year, reversing a decision to sell uranium to India because New Delhi has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
India won't be able to circumvent NPT, says Oz PM
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today announced his plan to establish an international commission on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, and said that India would not be able to circumvent the NPT by joining the commission that will be a non-government body.
Former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans will co-chair the international commission, Rudd announced after an emotional visit to the Japanese city of Hiroshima this morning.
Rudd denied that the plan was a way to allow Australia to sell uranium to India, which is not a signatory to the NPT.
The Howard Government agreed to the sales but the Rudd Government reversed the decision when it was elected last year.
Rudd said he understood the Indian arguments, and said the US Administration had also put India's case to him, but his Labour Government was firmly behind the NPT.
The commission will examine the work of two similar earlier panels, the Australian-led Canberra Commission and Japan's Tokyo Forum, to develop a plan of action for the next nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference in 2010.
Its first task will be to report to a major international conference of experts in Australia late next year.
Rudd will discuss the question of who should co-chair the commission alongside Evans with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda in Tokyo on Thursday, The Age reported.
Rudd said the NPT was under great pressure with some countries developing nuclear weapons outside its framework and others like North Korea defying the international community and leaving the treaty altogether.
"There are two courses of action available to the community of nations - to allow the NPT to continue to fragment, or to exert every global effort to restore and defend the treaty," he said. (ANI)
