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| CTBT linked to disarmament, India tells US |
| Lalit K Jha/ PTI / Washington Mar 24, 2009, 19:59 IST |
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The "Indo-US differences" over Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) would recede if there is a credible and time-bound move towards global nuclear disarmament, India has said and sought the formation of a bilateral working group to achieve universal abolition of atomic weapons.
Addressing the prestigious US-based think-tank Brookings Institution, Prime Minister's Special Envoy Shyam Saran identified CTBT as a potential contentious issue between India and the new US administration.
"It is India's conviction that if the world moves categorically towards nuclear disarmament in a credible time-frame, then Indo-US differences over the CTBT would probably recede into the background," he said.
Saran noted that "US President Barack Obama has made it clear that he will seek Senate ratification of the CTBT, which the US has signed, and India has not." Obama has also promised to launch a "diplomatic effort to bring on board other states whose ratifications are required for the treaty to enter into force", he pointed out.
India, Saran said, has been a consistent votary of a CTBT but did not sign the CTBT as it eventually emerged because it was not explicitly linked to the goal of nuclear disarmament.
He proposed that India and the US can start a working group at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva to pursue the goal of abolition of nuclear weapons.
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