By Pankaj Yadav NEW DELHI, Jan 28 (KUNA) -- India will continue to spearhead the campaign internationally for universal nuclear disarmament and getting rid of the ills of possessing "useless" weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) world over, a report prepared by Indian Prime Minister's Group on Universal Nuclear Disarmament has stated.
The Group consists of leading Indian luminaries, including ambassadors and security experts, and is headed by a close aide of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi (the late husband of present Congress president Sonia Gandhi) Mani Shankar Ayar, also a parliamentarian par excellence.
The report said: "India must continue to pursue its version of a non-nuclear world since a Nuclear-Weapons-Free-World would be good for the planet, good for the region (read South Asia) and for India's national security." Delving on the India-Pakistan squabble leading to a possible Nuclear War, the Group said that India would make every possible effort to convince Pakistan about the "uselessness" of possessing the Nuclear weapons.
Acknowledging that Pakistan was blocking the path for universal nuclear disarmament, Dr Manpreet Sethi, a member of the Group, said: "We need to build pressure on Pakistan on no-first-use of Nuclear weapons, we need to show it the dangers of use of N-weapons, and we need to show Pakistan that there is no military utility of WMDs for both." The PM's Group on Universal Nuclear Disarmament was set up in October 2010 on the guidelines of the "Rajiv Gandhi Action Plan, 1988", presented by former PM (Rajiv Gandhi) to the Third Special Session on Disarmament of the UN General Assembly in June 1988. In its Report, the Group emphasized that India is a "unique" state with Nuclear Weapons committed to time-bound elimination of nuclear weapons the world over.
Appreciating the recommendations of the Report, the country's External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna: "the Nuclear disarmament continues to be an important element of our foreign policy at various multilateral fora, including the UN, NAM (non-aligned movement) and the Conference on Disarmament.
" Hailing the Rajiv Gandhi Action Plan, 1988, Group's Chairman Mani Shankar Aiyar said that even after more than two decades it remains the "most detailed, practical and persuasive of any official roadmap towards ridding the world of these dreadful WMDs and eventually anchoring such a world without nuclear weapons in the principles and practice of non-violence. (end) py.gta KUNA 280950 Jan 12NNNN