Worries for India

If we look at the performance of the summit and its out come from an Indian perspective, then it has yielded mixed results. India, china and Pakistan are the three nuclear powers in South Asia and Pakistan’s record in nuclear proliferation has remained very poor. Dr A Q Khan’s nuclear network, through which Pakistan sold nuclear weapon technology and material to Libya, North Korea, etc that made Pakistan the axis nation of nuclear black marketing, is not an old story. In that context, President Barack Obama’s expression of confidence about the safety of Pakistani nuclear arsenal and saying that there is no nuclear crisis in South Asia is a matter of serious concern for India. Because, Pakistan has become the epicenter of all type of terrorism along with internal crisis, exposes its nuclear arsenal security more vulnerable. However, President Obama added that Pakistan and all those countries, which are running a civil nuclear energy programme, need to make a vital improvement on security grounds. However, that does not sound very pleasant for Indian ears.

Another issue is about Iran, which was not invited in summit along with North Korea and Syria. Iran is a signatory of Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), but it has denied to halt her nuclear enrichment programme. That remained the main reason for being left out. Iran and North Korea both are in India’s extended neighbourhood. Iran is more important for India because of its energy resources, (as we are already negotiating over IPI gas pipeline). Iran is also very important for the strategic access in Afghanistan and for the oil rich fields of Middle Asia and West Asia.

Certainly, India does not want any more nuclear powers in her neighbourhood, but it has always supported the peaceful use of nuclear energy for every country. America and china supported for sanctions against Iran. However, India opposed it because, such steps will not yield any positive result. It will only make Iranian government more hostile, weaken the democratic and reformist powers inside Iran and affect the poor people of the nation. Keeping Iran out of conversation and not engaging it with the rest of international community will give birth to doubts and suspicions between both sides.

Gains for India

India is raising her voice against nuclear proliferation since 1950, from various international venues. Discriminatory provisions of NPT and Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and nuclear black marketing remained the major cause of concern for India. In the time of global economic crisis, bailout packages, economic reforms and global warming; acceptance of nuclear proliferation threats by 47 nations is certainly an important thing.

The final communiqué of summit makes no specific difference between nuclear weapon states and non nuclear weapon states. It does not have any reference of NPT and it reaffirms the role of IAEA for nuclear security framework. This provision is according to conventional Indian viewpoint, wherein, it has always supported the important role of UNO over nuclear security. The communiqué put the fundamental responsibility on national level, accompanied with international obligations, to maintain the effective security of all kinds of nuclear materials. The communiqué has clear mention of highly enriched uranium and separated plutonium that need special security measures because they are the main ingredients of a nuclear weapon. The work plan of summit talks about improvement of national legal framework for prevention and prosecution of illicit nuclear trafficking. Communiqué also accepts the right of peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh announced a global centre for nuclear energy partnership. The centre would be fully owned and managed by the government of India, but it will be open for all countries including IAEA for academic collaboration and research and development purpose. The centre will consist four schools, respectively, advance nuclear energy studies, nuclear security, radiation safety and applications of radioisotopes and radiation technology in healthcare, agriculture and food sector. Such kind of initiative shows the maturity and responsibility of India, who is though not a signatory of NPT but it has true realisation of its obligations as a nuclear power. This centre will further increase cooperation between India and the rest of the world in nuclear power sector.

Conclusively one can say that the summit remained beneficial for India. It has raised India’s weightage on international level. Even from bilateral view, India received another success by getting access towards David Coleman Headley.

Still there is an issue, which remained unaddressed, that is the threat of radiation leakage. Few days back an incident of radiation leakage took place in some scrap shop in New Delhi. The substance that caused radiation was Cobalt-60, a highly radioactive material. Such kind of materials can be used for making dirty bombs and they can be easily procured from any E-west dumping site. However, in India, it happened accidentally due to some human error and a final report is still to come. But terrorist organisations can find it an easy, effective and powerful medium for spreading terror and killing thousands of people without much risk at their side. Because such incidents do not require highly trained and fully equipped jihadist. All it requires is sufficient amount of radioactive material.

The world of nuclear energy is full of uncertain possibilities, to ensure individual national security we need to make collective efforts.