Khurshid to lead Indian delegation at N-security summit

New Delhi, March 18:

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid will lead the Indian delegation at the third Nuclear Security Summit to be held at The Hague March 24-25, official sources said here Tuesday.

The sources said India is expected to focus on speeding up work on reducing gaps in the international architecture concerning nuclear security.

They said India was also likely to seek more concerted moves to check illicit traffic of nuclear materials.

The last two summits were held at Seoul in 2012 and at Washington D.C. 2010. Fifty three countries had participated in Seoul and the number is expected to be the same this year.

The sources said nuclear security was primarily a “national responsibility” but there was scope for international cooperation.

India has a growing civil nuclear programme and also has concerns over nuclear terrorism.

The sources said India has been flagging its concern in unambiguous terms about the possibility of non-state actors having access to devices which can be used for nuclear terrorism.

India is party to all 13 universal instruments accepted as benchmarks for a state’s commitment to combat international terrorism. This includes the International Convention for Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT).

India is also party to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CNPMM) and is among the countries that have ratified the 2005 amendment to the convention.

(IANS)