In a departure from tradition of not singling out countries by name, the UN has asked India, Pakistan and Israel to join NPT and CTBT without further delay and pre-conditions.

The UN’s call to the three countries to join nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) came at the end of the month-long 2010 NPT review conference here on Friday.
While it was expected that the names would be dropped in favour of a general statement calling for the universality of the NPT, the final document produced at the conference specifically called on India, Pakistan and Israel to accede to the treaty without further delay and pre-conditions.
“The conference remains convinced that universal adherence to the treaty can achieve this goal (of non-proliferation) and it calls upon all states not parties to the treaty, India, Israel and Pakistan to accede to it without further delay and without conditions,” the final document said. The 189 delegates to the conference also called on the “three states, operating unsafeguarded nuclear facilities to reverse clearly and urgently any policies to pursue any nuclear weapon development or deployment and to refrain from any action which would undermine regional peace and security,” it said. The NPT review conference is held every five years to assess the progress in reaching the goals set out in the 1970 treaty to disarm and stop the spread of nuclear weapons.
India, Pakistan and Israel did not attend the meet. The last conference in 2005 had ended in failure. In a section on South Asia in the text, the UN urged India and Pakistan to place all nuclear facilities under the safeguards of the IAEA.
“The conference urges both states to strengthen their non-proliferation exp-ort control measures over technologies, material and equipment that can be used for the production of nuclear weapons and their delivery systems,” it said.
Deploring the mention of close ally Israel in the NPT review conference and the exclusion of Iran, the US said the aspect puts the prospect for a conference in 2012 “in doubt”.
“Despite our agreement to the final document, we have serious reservations about one aspect of West Asia resolution it contains,” National Security Adviser General James Jones (Retd.) said. “Because of gratuitous way that Israel has been singled out, the prospect for a conference in 2012 that inv-olves all key states in the region is now in doubt and will remain so until all are assured that it can operate in a constructive way,” Mr Jones said. —PTI

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Obama says Iran greatest NPT threat
LALIT K. JHA
WASHINGTON

May 29: Seeking strengthening of the global non-proliferation regime, US President Barack Obama on Saturday said the greatest threat to NPT in West Asia is Iran’s failure to live up to its international obligations over its controversial nuclear programme.
“The NPT must be at the centre of our global efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons around the world, while pursuing the ultimate goal of a world without them,” the US President said.
“This agreement includes balanced and practical steps that will advance non-proliferation, nuclear disarmament, and peaceful uses of nuclear energy, which are critical pillars of the global non-proliferation regime,” Mr Obama said in a statement. “It reaffirms many aspects of the agenda that I laid out in Prague, and which we have pursued together with other nations over the last year, and und-erscores that those nations that refuse to abide by their international obligations must be held accountable,” he said. —PTI