India and US working together on nuclear proliferation

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Jun 2 (PTI) Praising India's strong track
record in the field of nuclear proliferation, a top US
diplomat has said that India has a very important role to play
in achieving the goals of US President Barack Obama in this
regard.
"I think the best thing that we and India could continue
to do is follow through on the agreement and then look for
other opportunities to demonstrate our shared commitment to
curbing the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass
destruction and improving the safety and security of existing
nuclear material sites," the Under Secretary of State for
Political Affairs, William Burns, said.
"That was reflected in the proposal that Prime Minister
Singh made at the Nuclear Security Summit in April, to set up
a regional nuclear security training centre so that India,
which has a very, very good record at preventing the
proliferation of its materials and at safeguarding its own
installations, can contribute to the same kind of high
standards of security on the part of other countries that are
attempting to build civilian nuclear installations," Burns
said.
"We also work together on some of the biggest non
proliferation challenges. I mentioned Iran; North Korea is
certainly another one.
I think we can continue to work together in not only
upholding India's unilateral moratorium on testing, but also
working together with regard to the physical material cut-off
treaty, which both of us have expressed support for," he said.
So there are lots of opportunities for the two countries
to make very clear their continuing commitment to basic
principles of nonproliferation, he noted.
Burns said building on the success of the civil nuclear
agreement, India is contributing constructively to global non
proliferation and nuclear security efforts.
"India has made clear its opposition to a nuclear-armed
Iran, and voted again at the IAEA Board of Governors meeting
last November to hold Iran accountable for its failure to live
up to international obligations.
At the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington in April of
this year, President Obama praised India's leadership in
launching a regional nuclear security training centre," he
said.
The State Department official said US companies are
prepared to support the expansion of India's civilian nuclear
infrastructure, with two reactor park sites already
identified.
"As Prime Minister Singh argued publicly last week, it is
deeply in India's self-interest for its Parliament to enact
liability legislation consistent with international standards,
so that it can attract the best foreign investors at the most
competitive rates, and build the role and capacity of its own
companies," he said. PTI LKJ
MRD