UN asks India, Pak, Israel to join NPT, CTBT

Betwa Sharma
New York, May 28 (PTI) In a departure from tradition of
not singling out countries by name, the United Nations has
asked India, Pakistan and Israel to join NPT and CTBT without
further delay and pre-conditions.
The UN's call to the three countries to join Nuclear
non-Proliferation Treaty and Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
(CTBT) came at the end of the month-long 2010 NPT review
conference here Friday.
While it was expected that the names would be dropped in
favour of a general statement calling for the universality of
the NPT, the final document produced at the conference
specifically called on India, Pakistan and Israel to accede to
the treaty without further delay and pre-conditions.
"The conference remains convinced that universal
adherence to the treaty can achieve this goal (of
non-proliferation) and it calls upon all States not parties to
the Treaty, India, Israel and Pakistan to accede to it without
further delay and without conditions," the final document
said.
The 189 delegates to the conference also called on the
"three states, operating unsafeguarded nuclear facilities to
reverse clearly and urgently any policies to pursue any
nuclear weapon development or deployment and to refrain from
any action which would undermine regional peace and security,"
it said.
The NPT Review Conference is held every five years to
assess the progress in reaching the goals set out in the 1970
treaty to disarm and stop the spread of nuclear weapons.
India, Pakistan and Israel did not attend the meet. The
last conference in 2005 had ended in failure.
In a section on South Asia in the text, the UN urged
India and Pakistan to place all nuclear facilities under the
safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
"The conference urges both states to strengthen their
non-proliferation export control measures over technologies,
material and equipment that can be used for the production of
nuclear weapons and their delivery systems," it said.
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