Press Trust of India / New Delhi Jul 09, 2009, 14:55 IST
Government today informed the Rajya Sabha that the United States has not requested India to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in recent bilateral discussions.
In a written reply, Minister of External Affairs S M Krishna said CTBT does not affect the October 10, 2008 agreement which enables civil nuclear cooperation between India and Pakistan.
"India has declared a voluntary, unilateral moratorium on nuclear explosive testing," he added.
Giving a list of the countries which have signed the CTBT, the minister said India, Pakistan and DPR Korea have not signed it despite 181 states having signed the treaty.
At the time of signing the Indo-US nuclear deal between then US President G. W. Bush and Indian PM Dr Mnmohan Singh during 2008, it was amply clear that India would not sign the NPT/CTBT which is discriminatory. Therefore, during the recent G-8 summit held in Italy, the question of US asking India to sign CTBT, did not arise.
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