India, US reaffirm to work together, to prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction

The agreement was reached during the ninth round of the India-US Strategic Security Dialogue held in Washington.

Washington: India and the United States on Wednesday reaffirmed their commitment to work together to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems and to deny access to such weapons by terrorists and non-state actors.

The agreement was reached during the ninth round of the India-US Strategic Security Dialogue held here.

The Indian delegation was led by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, while the US delegation was led by Andrea Thompson, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security.

"The two sides exchanged views on a wide range of global security and non-proliferation challenges and reaffirmed their commitment to work together to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems and to deny access to such weapons by terrorists and non-state actors," according to a statement by the External Affairs Ministry.

The US also reaffirmed its strong support of India’s early membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

"They committed to strengthening bilateral security and civil nuclear cooperation, including the establishment of six US nuclear power plants in India," the MEA said.

On March 12, Indra Mani Pandey, Additional Secretary for Disarmament and International Security Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, and Dr Yleem DS Poblete, US Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, co-chaired the third round of the India-US Space Dialogue.

Both sides discussed trends in space threats, respective national space priorities and opportunities for bilateral cooperation and in multilateral fora, the external affairs ministry said.