The pressure for a new nuclear arms non-proliferation treaty is increasing and India can play an important role in overcoming differences by talking to all sides, a top UN official today said.
Kim Won-soo, Under Secretary-General & High Representative for Disarmament Affairs at UN Office for Disarmament Affairs pointed out there are 15,000 atomic war heads in the world that pose a threat to the global security.
Kim urged India to participate in the UN Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) and raise its concerns. The OEWG was formed in 2012 to take forward Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament Negotiations.
While China, Pakistan, Israel and India had abstained France, Russia, UK, and the US had voted against the UN resolution for establishing the OEWG and have not been participating in its meetings.
India and Pakistan have been participating in the OEWG sessions but have not yet evinced confidence it can contribute something of value to the nuclear disarmament.
"India is a special case. Whether to participate in it or not is your decision. It's better to participate and raise your objections. It's better than not participating," he said.
He raised concern over Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) weapons and said the biological ones could be 3-4 times more lethal and if drones are used, the intensity could rise upto 10 times.
Noting that measures need to be taken to ensure non-state actors like terror groups don't get hold of CERN weapons, Kim said there is hardly any investment in curbing proliferation of biological weapons as against chemical and radiological weapons.
Speaking at an interaction with diplomats at the Indian Council of World Affairs here, Kim said the resolution on the new nuclear arms non-proliferation treaty is likely to come up in the UN General Assembly.
"It is very likely for the resolution to (be) realised. Resolution will be negotiated and adopted with maximum inclusiveness. Nuclear disarmament cannot happen without inclusive fight and commitment by all states. We hope all states extend their commitment.
"We hope we can overcome divisions through inclusive dialouge. India will play an important role as a country which can talk to all sides to overcome divisions," Kim said.
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The senior UN official claimed 90 per cent of the
chemical weapons declared by Syria have been destroyed, but teams are still verifying as there were inconsistencies in the claims made by the Damuscus and the ground situation.
Kim said mustard gas was used as a chemical weapon in Syria, but it has also come to light that massive quantities of chlorine, which can be found easily, is being used.
Terming atomic weapon as a "diabolical" invention, he said there is significant reduction of nuclear war hards in the world, but "we still have 15,000 nuclear weapons and even one can prove to be destructive.
