India has voiced deep concern over terror groups acquiring chemical weapons, asserting that the international community must take urgent measures and decisive actions to prevent possibility of any future use of such weapons. India’s Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament, Geneva, D B Venkatesh Varma, said this at a debate on weapons of mass destruction in United Nations yesterday .
He said that it has been New Delhi’s consistent position that the use of chemical weapons cannot be justified and the perpetrators of such abhorrent acts must be held accountable. He emphasised that India has a “flawless track record” of verification inspections and believes that the organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons needs to evolve transparent and objective criteria and modalities for inspections.
He said that the provisions of the Convention should be implemented in a manner that does not hinder legitimate activities, especially in countries like India with a large and growing chemical industry. Mr. Varma also told the committee, which deals with disarmament and international security, that India has strong and law-based national export controls consistent with the highest international standards with reference to control of nuclear, chemical, biological and toxin weapons and their means of delivery.