SARAN 2 LAST

Sharing India's thinking on Global Zero, Saran said it was
the only state to declare unequivocally that, in its
perception, its security will be enhanced and not diminished
in a world free of nuclear weapons.
"This is important because it lends credibility to our
consistent advocacy of nuclear disarmament and our willingness
to engage, without delay, in multilateral negotiations on a
Nuclear Weapons Convention prohibiting the development,
production, stockpiling and the use of nuclear weapons and on
their time-bound destruction, leading to the global, non-
discriminatory and verifiable elimination of nuclear weapons,"
he said.
Saran underlined India's commitment to its voluntary
unilateral moratorium on nuclear explosive testing and said it
was prepared to negotiate a verifiable FMCT in the Conference
on Disarmament in Geneva.
"We are not a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty and cannot respond to calls for universal adherence to
that Treaty as a non-nuclear weapon State," he said.
Saran noted India's unmatched non-proliferation record
over the past more than half a century which was instrumental
in persuading the US and the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group
to re-engage with India in international civil nuclear
commerce under an India-specific Safeguards agreement with the
IAEA. PTI