India has sought total elimination of N-Arms

United Nations (PTI): Warning against the possibility of terrorists and non-state actors acquiring atomic weapons, India has sought total elimination of nuclear arms backed by a security system in which states do not feel the need to develop, produce or stockpile them.

"India has remained steadfast to the goal of a nuclear weapon-free world, to be achieved through global, verifiable and non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament," its delegate Sushma Swaraj told a UN committee, adding that New Delhi's responsible nuclear doctrine is based on no first use and non-use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapons States.

Urging all nations to work together to achieve the goal of nuclear weapon-free-world, Swaraj, a member of Parliament, told the UN General Assembly's Disarmament and International Security Committee that atomic weapons stockpiles, both strategic and non-strategic, are too large and mostly on hair-trigger readiness.

"The threat of a nuclear war remains real," she told the delegates. While the international consensus to ban nuclear weapons develops, Swaraj said India proposes to table again the resolution on reducing nuclear dangers, which offers modest and practical proposals, calling for a review of nuclear doctrine and urgent steps to reduce the risk of unintentional and accidental use of such weapons through de-alerting and de-targeting them.

The vision for nuclear free world presented by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to third special session of the General Assembly on Disarmament two decades ago not only remain undiminished today but has become more relevant given the fact of increasing use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, Swaraj said.

While maintaining a credible minimum nuclear deterrent, she said, New Delhi remains committed to nuclear disarmament, which enjoys strong domestic consensus. "We are prepared to turn these commitments into multilateral, legally-binding obligations," she told the delegates.

Courtesy:The Hindu
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