Kolkata, Nov 27: US Ambassador to India Robert D Blackwill today cautioned that both countries faced "significant risk" in the next few years from either terrorists or rogue states having weapons of mass destruction and said checking the proliferation of these weapons was a major strategic challenge. "If promoting peace, prosperity and freedom in Asia, and defeating international terrorism are two long-term objectives of a transforming US-Indian relationship, the third and final strategic challenge is to curtail proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) in Asia and the means to deliver them," he said delivering a lecture here on 'the quality and durability of US-India relationship.' Stating that both India and the US shared a common vital national interest in restraining further proliferation of WMD and their means of delivery, he said, "both countries face a significant risk within the next few years of confronting either terrorists or rogue states armed with such WMD capabilites." According to the US ambassador, eight Asian nations today either have nuclear weapons capabilities, or were trying to acquire them. Nine had biological or chemical weapons or were attempting to obtain them, while eight others had ballistic missiles with ranges exceeding 1,000 km.
"No other part of the globe has such a concentration of WMD weapons and capabilities and these disturbing trends would worsen. As WMD programmes have become more advanced and more effective as they mature, many countries of concern have become more aggressive in pursuing them," he said.

Bureau Report