Indian clown PM is attending disarmament conference at this juncture. Sonia's first act as UPA chairperson was to declare unilateral ban on all further testing.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>The myth of disarmament
</b>
G Parthasarathy
<b>Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed a Conference on Disarmament in New Delhi on June 9 to mark the 20th anniversary of Prime Minster Rajiv Gandhi's address to the UN Special Session on Disarmament. </b>Rajiv Gandhi had then presented an Action Plan calling on the international community to negotiate a binding agreement on general and complete disarmament leading to the elimination of all nuclear weapons by 2010.
Twenty years later, according to the Bulletin of American scientists, the US has a stockpile of 4,075 active nuclear warheads. Russia, France and the UK have 5,830, 200 and 350 warheads respectively. India, Pakistan and Israel are respectively said to possess 100 to 140, between 60 and 100, and 200 active warheads each. North Korea reportedly possesses four to 10 nuclear warheads. When Rajiv Gandhi presented his Action Plan in 1988, Pakistan had, thanks to liberal Chinese assistance and American acquiescence, already acquired a nuclear arsenal, prompting him to direct his scientists, Mr PK Iyengar and Mr VS Arunachalam, to proceed with the assembly of an Indian nuclear arsenal.
Even as Rajiv Gandhi was calling for the establishment of a "nonviolent and nuclear weapons free world order" duly backed by Mr Mikhail Gorbachev, the nuclear weapons powers were moving to secure an indefinite extension of the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, which was concluded on July 1, 1968. With 189 countries now having acceded to the NPT and only four -- India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea -- living outside its provisions, the NPT can be said, as Western experts aver, to have prevented the emergence of around 20 nuclear weapons states, as was feared in 1968.
Thus, while India can legitimately claim that the Treaty is unequal and discriminatory, it will remain the target of signatories to the Treaty, including amongst its non-aligned partners, like Iran and Egypt. Such attitudes are partially motivated by envy, apart from concerns arising out of the possession of nuclear weapons by Israel. Countries like Iran demand a "complete prohibition" of nuclear cooperation with countries which have not signed the NPT.
<b>The July 9 New Delhi Conference was called following an appeal issued jointly by Senator Sam Nunn, former Secretaries of State George Shultz and Henry Kissinger, and former US Defence Secretary William Perry, calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons. </b>The American establishment is nowhere near accepting these recommendations, with the authors themselves now becoming quiet. None these four new found champions of disarmament, who were invited to the June 9 conference, chose to attend the event. Even Mr Gorbachev, that ardent one time champion of a "nonviolent and nuclear weapons free world," chose not to attend the conference, even though invited. The reality is that while world statesmen may pay lip service to disarmament, they are uneasy at associating themselves with India, because it is a non-signatory to the NPT.
The NPT was founded on the "three pillars" of non-proliferation, disarmament and cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear energy. While its proponents draw a measure of satisfaction from the fact that the number of countries possessing nuclear weapons today has not reached double digits, there is a powerful lobby, particularly in the US and in the European Union, which demands "universalisation" the NPT and measures to pressurise non-signatories like India to accede to the NPT. China, which has a notorious record of violating the NPT by transfers of nuclear weapons designs and technology to Pakistan, adopts a holier than thou attitude, demanding that India should give up its nuclear weapons and accede to the NPT.
India unfortunately shows a lack of spine by refusing to allude publicly to these Chinese transgressions of the NPT. Similarly, India has been less than forthright in joining others to point out that NATO nuclear sharing agreements which have led to Belgium, Italy, Netherlands and Turkey currently receiving nuclear weapons, which Canada continued to receive till 1984 and Greece until 2001, grossly violate NPT obligations.
Finally, the second "pillar" of the NPT which requires nuclear weapons states to pursue negotiations leading to a "treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control" has become meaningless, because of the reluctance of nuclear weapons powers to either give up nuclear weapons, or even agree to refrain from the use or threat of use of these weapons.
India has now to prepare for the likelihood of the finalisation of two treaties -- a Treaty on a Comprehensive Test Ban and a Fissile Material Cut off Treaty -- in the not too distant future, especially if Mr Barack Obama is elected as the next US President. As our former Ambassador to the UN Arundhati Ghosh recently noted, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has already committed in the UN in 1998 that apart from observing its unilateral moratorium on testing, India will, in addition bring its discussions with the US "to a successful conclusion", so that "the entry into force of the CTBT is not delayed". Thus, despite protestations to the contrary, both Mr Vajpayee and then Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh have committed India to acceding to the CTBT, once countries like China and the US ratify it.
The real challenges that India is going to face will arise when negotiations commence to conclude a FMCT, which will ultimately lead to an end to production of fissile material for nuclear weapons. The conclusion of a FMCT will be a high priority in the event of an Obama Presidency in the US. It is here that India should stand firm, holding that it will accede to such a treaty only if it is non-discriminatory and internationally verifiable. Any loophole that permits China to either build up its arsenal while India is prohibited from doing so, or permits China to clandestinely transfer know-how and fissile material to Pakistan, should be categorically rejected.
It would be worthwhile to convey this unambiguously to key partners like the US, the UK, France, Russia, other members of the G 8 and to friendly countries like South Africa and Brazil. India should reaffirm that while it will never be the first to use nuclear weapons, it will also resist attempts to pressurise it to accept treaties that will undermine the efficacy of its nuclear deterrent. We will also have to recognise that while global nuclear disarmament is desirable, the prospects for nuclear disarmament in the foreseeable future are virtually non-existent.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>India renews call for time-bound nuclear disarmament</b> (manmohan, mani shankar aiyer, richard butler..)
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>The myth of disarmament
</b>
G Parthasarathy
<b>Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed a Conference on Disarmament in New Delhi on June 9 to mark the 20th anniversary of Prime Minster Rajiv Gandhi's address to the UN Special Session on Disarmament. </b>Rajiv Gandhi had then presented an Action Plan calling on the international community to negotiate a binding agreement on general and complete disarmament leading to the elimination of all nuclear weapons by 2010.
Twenty years later, according to the Bulletin of American scientists, the US has a stockpile of 4,075 active nuclear warheads. Russia, France and the UK have 5,830, 200 and 350 warheads respectively. India, Pakistan and Israel are respectively said to possess 100 to 140, between 60 and 100, and 200 active warheads each. North Korea reportedly possesses four to 10 nuclear warheads. When Rajiv Gandhi presented his Action Plan in 1988, Pakistan had, thanks to liberal Chinese assistance and American acquiescence, already acquired a nuclear arsenal, prompting him to direct his scientists, Mr PK Iyengar and Mr VS Arunachalam, to proceed with the assembly of an Indian nuclear arsenal.
Even as Rajiv Gandhi was calling for the establishment of a "nonviolent and nuclear weapons free world order" duly backed by Mr Mikhail Gorbachev, the nuclear weapons powers were moving to secure an indefinite extension of the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, which was concluded on July 1, 1968. With 189 countries now having acceded to the NPT and only four -- India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea -- living outside its provisions, the NPT can be said, as Western experts aver, to have prevented the emergence of around 20 nuclear weapons states, as was feared in 1968.
Thus, while India can legitimately claim that the Treaty is unequal and discriminatory, it will remain the target of signatories to the Treaty, including amongst its non-aligned partners, like Iran and Egypt. Such attitudes are partially motivated by envy, apart from concerns arising out of the possession of nuclear weapons by Israel. Countries like Iran demand a "complete prohibition" of nuclear cooperation with countries which have not signed the NPT.
<b>The July 9 New Delhi Conference was called following an appeal issued jointly by Senator Sam Nunn, former Secretaries of State George Shultz and Henry Kissinger, and former US Defence Secretary William Perry, calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons. </b>The American establishment is nowhere near accepting these recommendations, with the authors themselves now becoming quiet. None these four new found champions of disarmament, who were invited to the June 9 conference, chose to attend the event. Even Mr Gorbachev, that ardent one time champion of a "nonviolent and nuclear weapons free world," chose not to attend the conference, even though invited. The reality is that while world statesmen may pay lip service to disarmament, they are uneasy at associating themselves with India, because it is a non-signatory to the NPT.
The NPT was founded on the "three pillars" of non-proliferation, disarmament and cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear energy. While its proponents draw a measure of satisfaction from the fact that the number of countries possessing nuclear weapons today has not reached double digits, there is a powerful lobby, particularly in the US and in the European Union, which demands "universalisation" the NPT and measures to pressurise non-signatories like India to accede to the NPT. China, which has a notorious record of violating the NPT by transfers of nuclear weapons designs and technology to Pakistan, adopts a holier than thou attitude, demanding that India should give up its nuclear weapons and accede to the NPT.
India unfortunately shows a lack of spine by refusing to allude publicly to these Chinese transgressions of the NPT. Similarly, India has been less than forthright in joining others to point out that NATO nuclear sharing agreements which have led to Belgium, Italy, Netherlands and Turkey currently receiving nuclear weapons, which Canada continued to receive till 1984 and Greece until 2001, grossly violate NPT obligations.
Finally, the second "pillar" of the NPT which requires nuclear weapons states to pursue negotiations leading to a "treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control" has become meaningless, because of the reluctance of nuclear weapons powers to either give up nuclear weapons, or even agree to refrain from the use or threat of use of these weapons.
India has now to prepare for the likelihood of the finalisation of two treaties -- a Treaty on a Comprehensive Test Ban and a Fissile Material Cut off Treaty -- in the not too distant future, especially if Mr Barack Obama is elected as the next US President. As our former Ambassador to the UN Arundhati Ghosh recently noted, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has already committed in the UN in 1998 that apart from observing its unilateral moratorium on testing, India will, in addition bring its discussions with the US "to a successful conclusion", so that "the entry into force of the CTBT is not delayed". Thus, despite protestations to the contrary, both Mr Vajpayee and then Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh have committed India to acceding to the CTBT, once countries like China and the US ratify it.
The real challenges that India is going to face will arise when negotiations commence to conclude a FMCT, which will ultimately lead to an end to production of fissile material for nuclear weapons. The conclusion of a FMCT will be a high priority in the event of an Obama Presidency in the US. It is here that India should stand firm, holding that it will accede to such a treaty only if it is non-discriminatory and internationally verifiable. Any loophole that permits China to either build up its arsenal while India is prohibited from doing so, or permits China to clandestinely transfer know-how and fissile material to Pakistan, should be categorically rejected.
It would be worthwhile to convey this unambiguously to key partners like the US, the UK, France, Russia, other members of the G 8 and to friendly countries like South Africa and Brazil. India should reaffirm that while it will never be the first to use nuclear weapons, it will also resist attempts to pressurise it to accept treaties that will undermine the efficacy of its nuclear deterrent. We will also have to recognise that while global nuclear disarmament is desirable, the prospects for nuclear disarmament in the foreseeable future are virtually non-existent.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>India renews call for time-bound nuclear disarmament</b> (manmohan, mani shankar aiyer, richard butler..)