Washington / AMN
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked the world to remain on high vigil to combat nuclear terrorism and underlined India’s continued priority to nuclear safety by strengthening institutional framework.
Participating in the plenary sessions of Nuclear Security Summit in Washington Friday, Mr Modi said India has been adhering to international obligations on nuclear safety through actions at national level. Briefing media persons on the Prime Minister’s participation in the nuclear summit, MEA Joint Secretary, Amandeep Singh Gill said that Mr Modi stressed the importance of strengththening international organisations like the UN for nuclear security. Mr Gill said, the Prime Minister also reiterated the importance of UN Security Council Resolution 1540 to prevent non-state actors gaining access to nuclear weapons.
Mr Gill said, the Prime Minister has announced a contribution of 1 million US dollars to Nuclear Security Fund of International Atomic Energy Agency. Mr Modi said that India would join the basket group of three other countries to combat nuclear smuggling. Quoting the Prime Minister, Mr Gill said India has decided to stop the use of Caesium 137 in medical applications as it is produced by nuclear fusion of Uranium 235 which is used in nuclear reactors and weapons. The Joint Secretary further said that nuclear Safety Regulatory Bill which lapsed in last Lok Sabha will be tabled in the current session of the Parliament. He said, the next conference of INTERPOL will be held in India next year.
All together, three sessions were held under the chairmanship of US President Barack Obama on the second day of the summit today. In the first plenary, all participant countries released their national plans to enhance nuclear security and the second plenary focused on strengthening international institutions like the IAEA and the UN. The final session deliberated on challenges emerging from threats of nuclear terrorism and how they could be responded to.