By IANS,
New Delhi : India and Germany Thursday held talks on non-proliferation issues and underlined their commitment to nuclear disarmament, officials said here.
Germany’s Commissioner for Disarmament and Arms Control Peter Gottwald met Vivek Katju, Special Secretary (Political and International Organisations) in the external affairs ministry, and held talks on a range of nuclear issues.
The talks took place against the backdrop of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in May 2010 and multilateral efforts, involving Germany, EU and its NATO partners, to speed up the conclusion of an international arms control treaty.
Besides issues relating to arms control, the Iranian nuclear issue and enforcement of the UN Security Council resolutions on North Korea also figured prominently in the discussions.
Katju reiterated India’s position on the need for universal, non-discriminatory and verifiable nuclear disarmament, but reiterated New Delhi’s opposition to signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). India believes that the NPT is discriminatory and tends to divide the world into the nuclear haves and have-nots.
Gottwald, the first high-ranking German official to visit India during the second tenure of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, held talks with Deputy National Security Adviser Shekhar Dutt Wednesday.
Gottwald arrived here on a two-day visit Wednesday.
Germany backed global consensus for India in the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) last year enabled the resumption of international nuclear trade with New Delhi.
“Germany pursues a balanced approach aimed at both enhancing and developing the three pillars of the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) – non-proliferation, nuclear disarmament and the peaceful use of nuclear energy,” the German embassy said here.