ICNND urges international community to work for disarmamentIndia News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

The Co-Chairman of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND) Gareth Evans on Sunday urged the global partners to work in order to make the world a safer place to live by disarming nuclear weapons. Evans said this while addressing the media after the two-day regional summit of ICNND, which was convened with the support and assistance of the Delhi Policy Group (DPG) in the national capital. The summit looked forward to a successful review of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in May 2010. “It is the responsibility of the every country in every region of the world to contribute in making world a safer place to live,” Evans said. Evans further said that the contribution of India , Pakistan and Israel , who were out of the NPT, had a vital role to play in the global efforts to stream proliferations. “It is extremely important, if both India and Pakistan indicate at least on signing NPT and if the US and China were to ratify, particularly the test ban treaty and then other countries would follow suite,” Evans said. “Let get on with the business and get into values and let’s get both India and Pakistan signed for NPT,” he added. The regional meeting also discussed the NPT pursuing nuclear disarmament preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, and facilitating the safe and peaceful uses of nuclear technology to meet growing regional energy demand. Another co-chairperson of the ICNND Yoriko Kawaguchi said: There is an increased concern that the terrorists or non state actors might get hold of this nuclear-materials and use them in the form of bombs.” “The peaceful use of nuclear materials have to be looked into regional elements, regional needs and regional background which gives us variety of reasons for thinking on the lines of our solutions,” Kawaguchi said. Regional security dynamics were also analysed along with the scope for confidence building measures. But, the meeting differed on whether regional nuclear arsenals could be contained in the absence of progress in resolving regional tensions.