New Delhi: An international commission on
disarmament has recognised that India will not sign NPT but
has disappointed it by clubbing it with Pakistan and Israel in
terms of non-proliferation and disarmament obligations.
The report of the International Commission on Nuclear
Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND) admits the reality
that India, Israel and Pakistan will not join the NPT as
non-nuclear weapon state nor will the NPT admit the three as
nuclear weapon states.
It advocates applying "equivalent non-proliferation and
disarmament obligations" to all -- India, Israel and Pakistan,
sources said, adding this was a disappointing mention as the
obligations should be based on the varying track record of the
respective countries.
The advocacy of equivalent obligations amounts to
ignoring the "differentiated nuclear histories and records of
all the nuclear armed states", sources said here today.
The suggestion for non-proliferation 'disciplines' for
non-NPT states also ignores India's existing commitments and
responsible behaviour in comparison with the NPT five and
Pakistan, the sources noted.
On the disarmament process, the report advocates a
staged approach but without a final deadline, another point
that has disappointed India which wants a timeline to be set
for complete dismantling of atomic weapons as outlined by
former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
The Commission, which was formed last year at the
initiative of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his
Japanese counterpart Yasuo Fukuda and includes former National
Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra as one of the 15 members,
talks about a "minimisation point' of a total no more than
2000 nuclear warheads to be reached in 2025 after which the
world would move towards complete elimination.
India feels this amounts to missing an important
opportunity to advance the debate on nuclear disarmament as it
does not consider some promising ideas on reducing the role of
nuclear weapons, on building partnerships with non-NPT states
and on taking multilateral negotiations on disarmament to
their logical conclusion.
Another disappointing factor from India's point of view
is the silence of the report on dealing with atomic weapons of
a country stockpiled in another nation. An example in this
regard is the US weapons stationed in NATO countries.
The report, however, advocates de-legitimisation of
nuclear weapons, a view that has been emphasised by India for
long.
India's view is also reflected in a suggestion that the
eight "nuclear armed states" -- the US, UK, France, Russia and
China plus India, Pakistan and Israel -- should adopt a
no-first use or a modified non-first use policy.
Like India, it also endorses the idea of a Nuclear
Weapons Convention as the preferred instrument for nuclear
disarmament and the Conference on Disarmament as the preferred
forum for negotiations on nuclear disarmament.
-PTI
First Published: Wednesday, December 16, 2009, 00:05