By IANS,
New Delhi: India will work towards nuclear disarmament which is universal and non-discriminatory, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here Tuesday.
Addressing the defence commanders’ conference here, Singh said that there has been a revival of interest in nuclear disarmament and non-proliferaton issues.
“We welcome this, because India was a pioneer in the campaign for a nuclear weapons-free world,” he added.
But, he felt that any such move should not be applicable only for some countries.
“We, however, have to ensure that discriminatory standards and approaches are not perpetuated. As a responsible nuclear weapons state, we wish to see nuclear disarmament that is global, non-discriminatory and universal in nature,” he said.
Recently, US President Barack Obama, who has been conferred the Nobel Peace Prize of 2009, has been campaigning for global disarmament. His campaign led to the adoption of a United Nations Security Council resolution last month that, among other aims, called upon all countries to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
India has not signed either of the two treaties, terming them discriminatory. Instead, India maintains a voluntary, unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing.
Singh reiterated India’s position that it was “ready to negotiate a Fissile Materials Cut-off Treaty which is multilateral, non-discriminatory and verifiable”.