New York: Voicing concern over growing
nuclear stockpile in South Asia, Congress MP Mani Shankar
Aiyar today said that no other country is as threatened as
India is by atomic weapons and prospect of these arsenal
falling into the hands of terrorists.
Making a strong case for eliminating nuclear weapons,
Aiyar, who is also Chairman of the Prime Minister's Informal
group on advancing the Rajiv Gandhi Action Plan for a
nuclear-weapons-free and nonviolent world order, said:
"non-proliferation is no substitute for elimination."
"No country is more threatened than India is by the
growing nuclear arsenals in our neighbourhood and the prospect
of terrorists accessing nuclear materials or even weapons.
Unilateral nuclear disarmament is, therefore, difficult to
envisage," he said at a nuclear disarmament conference here
organised by Global Security Institute and East West
Institute.
Elimination of nuclear weapons is the only way to ensure
that they are not used for "mass genocide" by terrorists and
"mass suicide" by states, he said, adding that "there is no
third way."
"So long as nuclear weapons are in existence, they can be
used ? or stolen," he added.
Pointing out that while unilateral nuclear disarmament
will not be easy, he said India "could rid itself of these
weapons" within the framework of an international convention
for the universal elimination of nuclear and other weapons of
mass destruction.
"India must continue to pursue its vision of a
non-nuclear world since a Nuclear-Weapons-Free-World would be
good for the planet, good for the region and good for India’s
national security."
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, October 25, 2011, 14:00