'India's role crucial in prventing spread of N-weapons'

OPINION

Many security challenges confront Asia today "" the spread of nuclear weapons, the threat of terrorism, threats to energy security, and so on. India has a critical role to play in tackling these challenges. With its economy growing at an impressive rate over the last few years, India has emerged as one of the drivers of economic growth in the world. India is a unique example of a country where development and democracy have gone hand in hand. Its role has become crucial for international economic integration and trade organisation, for preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, for tackling the threat of terrorism, for stabilising conflict-affected states like Afghanistan, for dealing with the issue of climate change, for building and strengthening multilateral institutions, and for collective and co­operative security in Asia.

A principal cause of concern in recent years has been the threat of nuclear proliferation. This is not limited only to new states acquiring nuclear weapons capability. It also extends to the very real threat of terrorist groups laying their hands on nuclear material and even fully assembled nuclear weapons.

These two security challenges are interlinked. And they are products of the demand-supply dynamic. On the supply side, the proliferation problem is a product of two factors. One is the inability of states to sufficiently safeguard their nuclear material, technology and facilities against attempts to procure WMD relevant items. The second factor is deliberate and callous proliferation by states, including state failure to exercise adequate control over personnel engaged in nuclear programmes. It is well known how transfer of uranium enrichment technology, equipment and even weapon design has taken place clandestinely and flagrantly in our region. Even more alarming is the interest shown by radical terrorist groups in acquiring nuclear material and technology and the linkages that they had forged with a few nuclear scientists.

The challenge before us is to make sure that national laws and international commitments are better implemented by states to prevent leakage of material and technology from established nuclear programmes. The challenge also is to do this consistently and without short-term considerations of political expediency.

On the demand side, the best way to address the dilemmas in the nuclear domain is to focus our efforts on the goal of global nuclear disarmament.

India, as you know, has held a principled position on the issue of nuclear weapons since the dawn of the nuclear age. It has many firsts to its credit in promoting arms control, disarmament and non­proliferation. As early as 1954, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru issued the first ever call for a standstill to nuclear weapons tests. In 1965, it was India that first put forward the principles for a Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Indian enthusiasm for the NPT waned when it saw the reluctance of established nuclear powers to give up their arsenals. But in all these years, we have strictly abided by all the basic obligations enshrined in this treaty as they apply to nuclear weapon states. Today, as a responsible nuclear weapon power, we are even more mindful of our duty to control the spread of WMD technologies and their delivery systems. We have signalled our willingness to be a part of the international consensus by adopting a comprehensive WMD Export Control legislation. We have also harmonised our export control lists with those prescribed by the Nuclear Suppliers' Group and Missile Technology Control Regime.

(Excerpts from External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's address to the 10th Asian Security Conference on 'Asian Security in the 21st Century', organised by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses on February 5, 2008)