PM Modi leaves for Washington to attend Nuclear Security Summit

Brussels: After concluding his first official visit to Belgium, Prime Minister Narendra Modi departed for Washington D.C.late on Wednesday evening to attend the fourth Nuclear Security Summitfrom March 31st to April 1.

After concluding his address to the Indian diaspora here, the Prime Minister headed towards the airport on the second leg of his three-nation journey. "PM @narendramodi concludes his address at Brussels Expo. After community event, it's straight to the airport," tweeted Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Vikas Swarup.

Briefing the media, along with Swarup in New Delhi on Tuesday, over the Prime Minister's U.S. visit, Joint Secretary (Disarmament & International Security Affairs) Amandeep Singh Gill said the summit would begin with the leaders-only dinner at the White House on March 31, where leaders of 53 countries and four international organisations that participate at the summit would gather at this working dinner to share their assessments of the threat of nuclear terrorism.

Prime Minister Modi will share India's assessment of the threat.

On April 1, there would be three plenary sessions; at the first plenary session, there would be a focus on national actions to enhance nuclear security, said Gill.

This first plenary would be followed by a working lunch, where the focus of discussions would be on international institutional actions to strengthen nuclear security. "The focus would be on international follow-up through institutions such as the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations, the Interpol, the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism and the G8 Global Partnership," he added.

The third and final plenary discussion at the summit would be a policy discussion on nuclear terrorism based on a hypothetical scenario. "This scenario would allow the leaders to have a realistic and a thoughtful conversation on and around the challenges posed by international terrorism in particular the threat of nuclear and radiological terrorism," he said, adding that the summit would then conclude with the adoption of a brief communique and the five action plans.

Underlining India's main expectations from the summit, Gill said, "India expects that the summit would contribute further to raising high-level awareness of the threat of nuclear terrorism and the need to strengthen international cooperation against terrorists and nuclear traffickers."

"We also expect that the summit would help bolster legal, institutional and enforcement measures to strengthen the security of nuclear material, radioactive sources, associated facilities and technologies," he added.