A nuclear weapons free world could actually be a possibility, provided caution and pragmatism is exercised and nuclear weapons states go for deeper cuts in their arsenal and put an emphasis on disarmament and non-proliferation, experts here said.
Panelists at the two-day international conference on "A Nuclear Weapon Free World: From Conception to Reality" argued that the concept of a nuclear weapons free world will have to rest on a legally binding international instrument such as a "Nuclear Weapon Convention".
Traditional issues of nuclear disarmament were discussed along with several new issues.
The conference, which concluded on an optimistic note, was organised by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) and the Indian Pugwash Society April 2-3, according to an IDSA press release.
The speakers insisted on stability of balance of power between important players like India-China, China-Japan, and the US and called for a legally binding international treaty regime to supplement the existing ones, while not undermining security based on those regimes.
The role of non-traditional social media was also discussed as crucial to generate awareness against nuclear weapons.
Among the 26 experts were Theresa Hitchens, director of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research in Geneva, Sverre Lodgaard, senior research fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, James Acton, senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in the US and Ambassador Rakesh Sood, the prime minister's special envoy on disarmament and non-proliferation.