Indian PM attacks nuclear treaty - Manmohan Singh says NPT has failed on security

Indian PM attacks nuclear treaty - Manmohan Singh says NPT has failed on security
By James Lamont in New Delhi
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
Published: September 29 2009 14:34 | Last updated: September 29 2009 16:26
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cb5b3a26-acf5-11de-91dc-00144feabdc0.html


India’s prime minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday criticised the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as not being up to the “formidable” task of protecting the world from nuclear terrorism just days after Barack Obama appealed to world leaders to support the Treaty.

Mr Singh said the NPT’s “deficiencies” had made the world a more dangerous place and called for the replacement of the NPT with a Nuclear Weapons Convention that would agree steps towards the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Last week, the UN Security Council launched a resolution calling on all countries to comply with the obligations of the NPT, refrain from nuclear test explosions and ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

The Prime Minister’s comments are at odds with an appeal by US President Barack Obama to strengthen the NPT in the face of grave anxieties about Iran’s nuclear programme.

India, which developed nuclear weapons in an arms race with Pakistan, is not a signatory of the NPT. Although it insists on an “impeccable” non-proliferation record and supports a voluntary moratorium on nuclear testing, New Delhi strongly resists the NPT and the CTBT.

“It is a matter of regret that the global non-proliferation regime has not succeeded in preventing nuclear proliferation,” said Mr Singh at a conference in Delhi on the peaceful use of atomic energy.

“Its deficiencies, in fact, have had an adverse impact on our security.”

A global non-proliferation initiative had to be “universal, comprehensive and non-discriminatory” if nuclear powers like India were to be brought into the fold, Mr Singh said.

Mr Singh was careful, however, to acknowledge Mr Obama’s recent efforts to tighten nuclear controls. The Indian premier said there were some “positive signs” of the US reducing the role of its arsenal, cutting its stockpile alongside former foe Russia and working towards a world free of weapons of mass destruction.

He also applauded Mr Obama’s initiative to hold a global summit on nuclear security next year.

India owes its entry into the international nuclear global mainstream to the US and the administration of former US president George W. Bush. Last year, New Delhi signed a civil nuclear deal with Washington that ended decades of isolation for India’s nuclear programme. It opened the way for the supply of nuclear materials to India and international investment in nuclear power plants.

The contribution of nuclear energy in India is estimated to rise from about its present 4,120 MW to 470,000 MW over the next 40 years.

India’s public debate over the shortcomings of the NPT received praise from Mohammad ElBaradei, the outgoing head of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency, who attended the Delhi conference.

”India called for the elimination of all nuclear weapons as far back as 1948. It is important that India’s voice should continue to be heard as a leading advocate for nuclear disarmament,” he said.

New Delhi last week vigorously rejected Mr Obama’s proposal that countries, like India, join the NPT as non-nuclear weapon states.

In a letter to Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the UN and president of the UN Security Council last Wednesday, the Indian government said: “There is no question of India joining the NPT as a non-nuclear weapon state. Nuclear weapons are an integral part of India’s national security and will remain so, pending non-discriminatory and global nuclear disarmament.”

Only four states - India, Israel, Pakistan and Cuba - have not signed the NPT. All have nuclear weapons except Cuba.