Sherpas consider draft communique for Seoul Nuclear Security Summit

Sherpas for the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit ended a two-day meeting here today at which they considered, among other things, the draft communique that would be adopted by leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, at the March 26-27 summit.

 

The meeting, opened by Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai, as India's Sherpa, was attended by 49 participating countries and four international organizations.

 

They included the 46 countries which participated in the first Nuclear Security Summit that was held in Washington in April 2010. South Korea, as the host of the second summit, has invited three new participants - Denmark, Lithuania, and Azerbaijan. Of these, Denmark and Lithuania sent representatives to the New Delhi Sherpa Meeting.

 

The four international organizations are the United Nations, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Interpol and the European Union.

 

Briefing mediapersons after the meeting, Mathai declined to go into the details of the draft communique, since it is still under discussion, but said that the discussions on it were productive and had reached an advance stage of consideration.

 

"The draft communique is a substantive document that seeks to reaffirm the Washington communique and build on the momentum that has been generated since the last Summit," he said.

 

Mathai said the main objective of the Nuclear Summit process had been to focus high-level global attention on the threat posed by nuclear terrorism and the measures required to address the global challenge of preventing terrorists and other non-state actors from gaining access to sensitive nuclear materials, technology and information.

ADVERTISEMENT

 

"Security of nuclear materials is fundamentally a national responsibility but there is considerable scope for international cooperation to strengthen nuclear security objectives and standards. In this regard, there was considerable emphasis on the leading role of the IAEA in the international nuclear security framework and the need to strengthen multilateral instruments that address nuclear security such as the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism. India is a party to all major international instruments in the field of nuclear security," he said.

 

Mathai said that, among the topics being discussed for considered for inclusion in the Seoul Summit outcome communiqué were measures to secure the management of highly enriched uranium, measures to ensure radiological security, promoting transport security and combating illicit trafficking, security of sensitive information and increasing international cooperation and assistance.

 

In this regard, he recalled that India had announced the setting up of the Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership.

 

"The Seoul Summit will also give consideration to strengthening the synergy between nuclear safety and nuclear security, an issue which has become topical after the Fukushima accident of March, 2011. We feel that this issue merits Summit level consideration to enhance public confidence that measures are being taken to ensure that nuclear energy, which is an essential energy source is used in a safe and secure manner," he said.

 

Mathai said India was committed to the success of the Nuclear Security Summit process. "The holding of the Sherpa meeting in New Delhi, the first of its kind that we have hosted, is a clear demonstration of our commitment to the Nuclear Security Summit process," he added.

 

NNN

ADVERTISEMENT