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| Nirupama set to visit US with PM to ward off nuclear threat nearer home | | | ABID SHAH
EARLY TIMES REPORT
NEW DELHI, Apr 4: India's stepped up diplomacy against nuclear proliferation and to ward off the possibility of its acquisition by terrorist groups, rouge elements, or non-State actors is going to take Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Washington for a two-day Summit on nuclear security.
Announcing this here today, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said, "The Prime Minister will visit Washington on April 12 and 13 for a Summit on Nuclear Security.
"The Summit is an initiative of President Obama who has invited Prime Minister and 42 other leaders to attend. We have welcomed this initiative and have contributed substantively to the Summit preparations."
Addressing media persons, Rao said "You are aware of our concerns on terrorism and the possible acquisition of nuclear devices and material by terrorist groups. Since 2002, we have been piloting a resolution at the UN on preventing terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction.
"We are also active in the works of IAEA on setting and enforcing standards on physical protection of nuclear material and facilities as well as on combating illicit trafficking in nuclear material.
"India is a party to the key instruments of the global architecture of nuclear security such as the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and its 2005 amendment. We are also participating in the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism of 2006."
The Foreign Secretary said that PM would arrive in Washington in the afternoon of April 12. President Obama would host a dinner that evening for the visiting leaders. The discussion at the dinner would focus on the threat of nuclear terrorism, the primary reason why the Summit has been convened.
There would be two plenary sessions on April 13, focused respectively on national measures and on international cooperation to enhance nuclear security.
There would be a working lunch that would be addressed by the Director General of IAEA, which plays the primary role internationally in the promotion of peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The Summit would conclude with the issue of an outcome document on April 13. The outcome has been negotiated over the past six months by officials of 44 countries and representatives of the EU and the IAEA.
Rao said "I have led a team of officials of Department of Atomic Energy and Ministry of External Affairs in discussions on the Summit outcome at preparatory meetings held at Tokyo and The Hague. The officials involved in these discussions will also meet in Washington on the eve of the Summit."
She said that nuclear terrorism has been posing a global challenge and the Summit and its associated preparatory process were described by her as important elements in strengthening international resolve to cooperate on nuclear security and supporting the expanded use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
Rao said that this would be to India's benefit given its concerns on terrorism as well as interest in the expansion of civil nuclear energy. She avoided making a direct reference to Pakistan or the threat of nuclear proliferation posed by it. Answering questions in this regard she said that the summit was not country-specific.
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