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Mani Shankar Aiyar for Track-II talks with China
Mani Shankar Aiyar said he was in discussions with experts from Pakistan and China to launch a Track-II process on universal nuclear disarmament.
New Delhi: Pushing for an atomic weapons free world, Congress MP Mani Shankar Aiyar on Friday said he was in discussions with experts from Pakistan and China to launch
a Track-II process on universal nuclear disarmament.
"I am in discussions with Chinese and Pakistani experts
to have a trialogue on universal nuclear disarmament," on a
discussion on the `Report of the Prime Minister`s Group on
Nuclear Disarmament`.
Aiyar, who chairs an Informal Group which prepared the report, said he wanted a purely intellectual track to pursue universal, time-bound, phased and verifiable disarmament.
The former union minister would be delivering a lecture in Pakistan very soon on the possibility of cooperation in nuclear disarmament.
He said there was "far greater congruence" between India and Pakistan on issues like global nuclear disarmament. "The disagreements are only with each other," Aiyar said pointing out that it would be difficult to differentiate between the speeches of Indian and Pakistani diplomats on disarmament at multi-lateral fora.
He said the Rajiv Gandhi Action Plan on disarmament had bipartisan support in the country as the NDA, during its six-year rule, had never repudiated the former Prime Minister`s vision.
Earlier, Aiyar also met External Affairs Minister S M Krishna who said that the value of the Report was in wider disemmination within the country to generate discussion and debate about universal nuclear disarmament.
Krishna also offered to support a seminal under the aegis of the Indian Council of World Affairs on the theme of global universal disarmament to coincide with Rajiv Gandhi`s birth anniversary on August 20.
Earlier, Vidya Shankar Aiyar, advisor to the Group, made a brief presentation on the report which suggests that India should assume a high profile in advocating the basic ideas and goals of complete disarmament put forth by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at the UN in 1988.
The report also underscored the vitality and relevance of the RGAP for Ushering in a Nuclear Weapons Free and Non-Violent World.
"In 1988, India had to go it alone. The difference today is that not only the civil society groups in nuclear weapons states are very active in advocating disarmament but their eminence is also increasing on a day-to-day basis," Aiyar said.
He said India as a nuclear weapons state is better suited to champion the elimination of nuclear weapons.
Suggesting a seven-point roadmap for carrying forward the RGAP, the report had asked the government to reiterate its commitment to the goal of complete disarmament and to eliminate its own arsenal as part of a universal, non-discriminatory and verifiable global process.
It has also asked the government to encourage non-nuclear weapons states and states with nuclear weapons to make a similar undertaking.
The Group has made 14 recommendations that entail India taking a leadership role on disarmament issues in various global fora, including the UN, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Conference on Disarmament, with a view to launching multilateral negotiations for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons.
PTI
Aiyar, who chairs an Informal Group which prepared the report, said he wanted a purely intellectual track to pursue universal, time-bound, phased and verifiable disarmament.
The former union minister would be delivering a lecture in Pakistan very soon on the possibility of cooperation in nuclear disarmament.
He said there was "far greater congruence" between India and Pakistan on issues like global nuclear disarmament. "The disagreements are only with each other," Aiyar said pointing out that it would be difficult to differentiate between the speeches of Indian and Pakistani diplomats on disarmament at multi-lateral fora.
He said the Rajiv Gandhi Action Plan on disarmament had bipartisan support in the country as the NDA, during its six-year rule, had never repudiated the former Prime Minister`s vision.
Earlier, Aiyar also met External Affairs Minister S M Krishna who said that the value of the Report was in wider disemmination within the country to generate discussion and debate about universal nuclear disarmament.
Krishna also offered to support a seminal under the aegis of the Indian Council of World Affairs on the theme of global universal disarmament to coincide with Rajiv Gandhi`s birth anniversary on August 20.
Earlier, Vidya Shankar Aiyar, advisor to the Group, made a brief presentation on the report which suggests that India should assume a high profile in advocating the basic ideas and goals of complete disarmament put forth by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at the UN in 1988.
The report also underscored the vitality and relevance of the RGAP for Ushering in a Nuclear Weapons Free and Non-Violent World.
"In 1988, India had to go it alone. The difference today is that not only the civil society groups in nuclear weapons states are very active in advocating disarmament but their eminence is also increasing on a day-to-day basis," Aiyar said.
He said India as a nuclear weapons state is better suited to champion the elimination of nuclear weapons.
Suggesting a seven-point roadmap for carrying forward the RGAP, the report had asked the government to reiterate its commitment to the goal of complete disarmament and to eliminate its own arsenal as part of a universal, non-discriminatory and verifiable global process.
It has also asked the government to encourage non-nuclear weapons states and states with nuclear weapons to make a similar undertaking.
The Group has made 14 recommendations that entail India taking a leadership role on disarmament issues in various global fora, including the UN, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Conference on Disarmament, with a view to launching multilateral negotiations for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons.
PTI