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It was a bombshell by any measure. Since it was signed 40 years ago, Indian leaders have been firmly against joining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), an agreement that prohibits nonnuclear states from acquiring such weapons, commits nuclear-weapons states to disarmament, and regulates the peaceful use of nuclear energy to prevent the weaponization of nuclear technology. But in a move that will have significant implications for India as a rising power, and for global diplomacy, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reversed course publicly on Nov. 29, saying that India is willing to join the NPT as a nuclear-weapons state. Whether India follows through remains an open question, but pursuing NPT status would confer enormous benefits to the country

It was a bombshell by any measure. Since it was signed 40 years ago, Indian leaders have been firmly against joining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), an agreement that prohibits nonnuclear states from acquiring such weapons, commits nuclear-weapons states to disarmament, and regulates the peaceful use of nuclear energy to prevent the weaponization of nuclear technology. But in a move that will have significant implications for India as a rising power, and for global diplomacy, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reversed course publicly on Nov. 29, saying that India is willing to join the NPT as a nuclear-weapons state. Whether India follows through remains an open question, but pursuing NPT status would confer enormous benefits to the country

"Against the backdrop of the UN asking it to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, India on Sunday made it clear that it can't be a party to an agreement that it regards as "discriminatory". "Our position on NPT has been clearly articulated before. India's credentials in non-proliferation are well-known," said a government source here. "We have made it clear that we want complete, verifiable and universal disarmament," the source added. India will not be party to any agreement that it regards as discriminatory, government sources stressed, while reiterating India's oft-repeated position. At the end of the nearly month-long NPT review conference Friday, the UN has asked India, Pakistan and Israel to join the NPT and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) without further delay and pre-conditions. "

"Theirs is the voice that the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in New York needs to hear. Two aging hibakusha, emboldened by U.S. President Barack Obama's historic pledge in Prague last year to seek a nuclear-free world, were to address peace events during the NPT session that opened Monday at the U.N. headquarters in New York and runs until May 28. These two women plan to describe the horrors of the 1945 atomic bombings that transformed their lives. Sakue Shimohira, who is 75 and from Nagasaki, described the trip to New York as her "last chance" to tell the world about what happened to her. "I feel that the momentum to abolish nuclear weapons has been building since Obama became president," said Shimohira, who also visited the U.N. headquarters when the 2005 NPT review conference was held. "We hibakusha want to contribute to the ongoing tide." "

"Nations have gathered at the United Nations in New York to review the 40-year old Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which spells out commitments for halting the spread of nuclear weapons. In addition to supporting efforts to halt further weapons production, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) has enlisted regional support in proposing that the meeting also show international recognition of testing impacts. Speaking before the NPT plenary meeting last Thursday, RMI UN Ambassador Phillip Muller told the Parties to the NPT agreement that the 67 nuclear tests conducted in RMI took place with UN approval through two UN resolutions, passed in 1954 and 1956, after the UN rejected petitions by traditional Marshallese leaders. Nations have gathered at the United Nations in New York to review the 40-year old Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which spells out commitments for halting the spread of nuclear weapons. In addition to supporting efforts to halt further weapons production, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) has enlisted regional support in proposing that the meeting also show international recognition of testing impacts. "

Well, you were probably happy to learn Susan Burk - now President Obama's Special Representative for Nuclear NonProliferation and former head of President Clinton's delegation to the 1995 Review Conference of the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons - told the folks at the Geneva Center for Security Policy last week, on the eve of the September meeting of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, that the world now has a real opportunity to "strengthen" the NPT-IAEA associated nuclear-weapons proliferation-prevention regime and that the Obama-Biden administration was determined to make an ambitious effort to do so. According to Burk, there is a perception that, as result of certain actions in recent years, the NPT-IAEA regime is doomed to collapse and "that is a view that is wrong and must be refuted."

"Representatives from more than 100 countries are expected to attend the latest five-yearly Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, which is scheduled to start on Monday and will last 25 days. According to Sergio Duarte, the UN high representative for disarmament affairs, one of the main challenges for this year's event is how to make the NPT more effective in the fields of disarmament, non-proliferation and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, the three main thrusts of the treaty. The following is a brief introduction to the NPT: In the 1960s, the United States and the Soviet Union stepped up their nuclear testing in a bid to improve their nuclear arsenals. Seeking to maintain their respective nuclear advantages, the two superpowers began to push for negotiations on a treaty that would stem the proliferation of nuclear weapons."

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has reiterated India's commitment to non-proliferation but said New Delhi would not sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in its present format as it is discriminatory and in favour of the nuclear weapon states. "Our position is very clear. We are totally in agreement that those who are signatories to the NPT, they must fulfil their treaty obligations. Because of this discriminatory nature, we are not signatories, but with the objectives of non-proliferation, we are with the rest of the world," he told journalists here on Sunday.

- Highlighting recent progress in efforts to achieve nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Tuesday urged nations to build on the momentum, laying out a number of steps to move the process forward. Speaking at a meeting in New York focusing on his five-point action plan to rid the world of nuclear weapons, the secretary-general cited "encouraging" developments over recent months, including the renewed commitment by the leaders of the United States and Russia, a breakthrough in the Conference on Disarmament, and the "historic" Security Council summit in September. "We need to sustain this momentum, and build on it," he stated, noting that the review conference for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to be held in May 2010, is just a few months away. "Now is the time." The secretary-general's action plan, presented in October 2008,begins with a call for the parties to the NPT to pursue negotiations on nuclear disarmament, either through a new convention or through a series of mutually reinforcing instruments backed by a credible system of verification.

- Highlighting recent progress in efforts to achieve nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Tuesday urged nations to build on the momentum, laying out a number of steps to move the process forward. Speaking at a meeting in New York focusing on his five-point action plan to rid the world of nuclear weapons, the secretary-general cited "encouraging" developments over recent months, including the renewed commitment by the leaders of the United States and Russia, a breakthrough in the Conference on Disarmament, and the "historic" Security Council summit in September. "We need to sustain this momentum, and build on it," he stated, noting that the review conference for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to be held in May 2010, is just a few months away. "Now is the time." The secretary-general's action plan, presented in October 2008,begins with a call for the parties to the NPT to pursue negotiations on nuclear disarmament, either through a new convention or through a series of mutually reinforcing instruments backed by a credible system of verification.

"The NPT News in Review is a daily publication produced by Reaching Critical Will during nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty preparatory committees and review conferences. It is designed to circulate civil society perspectives to governmental delegates and to provide daily updates to those unable to attend the conferences."

CHANDIGARH: Despite the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) nod for the historic India-US nuclear deal, Australia, one of the world's largest producers of uranium, is unwilling to export it to India unless New Delhi signs the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the country's envoy says. "The NSG decision cannot affect our policies and decisions. We are very clear that we would not supply uranium to any country that has not signed the NPT," Australian High Commissioner to India John McCarthy told IANS here. "The present labour government (of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd) is very particular about this issue and there is no chance of laxity in its stand," the envoy, who was here for a media seminar, added.

U.S. President Barack Obama set out his vision for a world free of nuclear weapons on Sunday, vowing to involve all states with atomic weapons in the process of reducing arsenals. Obama also said North Korea had broken the rules with a rocket launch earlier on Sunday and called on Pyongyang to abandon its efforts to acquire nuclear weapons. Russia and the United States said on Saturday they would start talks on a new deal to cut nuclear warheads before the end of the month. On Wednesday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Obama agreed to pursue a new arms deal, in accordance with U.S. and Russian obligations in the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Here are some key facts about the treaty, regarded as the cornerstone of global efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons: * PURPOSE OF THE NPT:

"Every five years or so the United Nations hosts a foreign minister level conference to review the implementation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). This year, Iranian strongman Mahmoud Ahmadinejad decided to join the party. He delivered, on the first morning of the review conference last week, his customary condemnation of Israel and of the United States while defending his country's nuclear program. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke later the same day, accusing Iran of being the only country attending the UN review conference that is acting with impunity when held to account by the International Atomic Energy Agency and Security Council. Iran, she said, is consistently violating its obligations under the NPT. That was a good start, but then she rhetorically crouched into a defensive position."

"Nearly 200 nations, signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), have agreed to work towards a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East. The members, meeting at the UN in New York, called for a conference in 2012 attended by Middle Eastern states - including Iran - to establish the zone. The unanimously agreed document also said that Israel should sign the NPT. "

"Breaking the tradition of not naming countries, the first draft of the final document of 2010 Nuclear-Non Proliferation Treaty Review conference has asked India, Pakistan and Israel to join NPT and CTBT. "The conference calls upon India, Israel and Pakistan to accede to the treaty as non-nuclear weapon States, promptly and without conditions, thereby accepting an internationally legally binding commitment not to acquire nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices," the first draft of the document said. "The conference also calls upon India and Pakistan to maintain moratoriums on nuclear testing and calls upon India, Israel and Pakistan to sign and ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) without delay and without conditions," it said."

"Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said Tuesday his country will not stop its calls on Israel to join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and submit its facilities to international observation. Following a meeting here with Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano, Abul Gheit said his country will press ahead with its calls for submitting all Israeli nuclear facilities to international observation, state- run MENA news agency reported. "I can not imagine any one in Egypt would say that we stop calls for submitting Israeli facilities to the observation of international society represented in the IAEA," he said. Meanwhile, Abul Gheit said his meeting with Amano also touched upon ways the international watchdog could help Egypt to carry out its peaceful nuclear program."

9 May 2008 - Over 100 States took part in a two-week meeting seeking to pave the way towards the review of the United Nations-backed Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which forms the foundation of the world's nuclear non-proliferation regime. This gathering, which wrapped up today, was the second of three sessions of the Preparatory Committee of the Parties to the Treaty on the NPT.

A senior U.N. disarmament official said Friday it is possible to achieve success at next year's review conference of the parties to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty if countries are flexible and their leaders have firm political will. Hannelore Hoppe, deputy to the high commissioner for disarmament affairs at the United Nations, made the remarks at a closing speech of a three-day disarmament conference, commenting on the next NPT review conference to be held from next May 3 to 28 in New York. Summing up discussions at the disarmament conference that ended Friday in Niigata, Hoppe said the global movement for nuclear disarmament has gained momentum.

Well, the New York Times warmongering capability has apparently not been much diminished by the loss of Judith Miller, who, in intimate association with the Cheney Cabal, did so much on the Times' front-pages to enable the Bush-Cheney War of Aggression against Iraq (still in progress). You see, the NYT still has William Broad and David Sanger. Last week Broad and Sanger apparently somehow obtained access to the confidential report Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei had just submitted to the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which included - among other things - its quarterly report on Iran's compliance with its NPT-related IAEA Safeguards Agreement. Broad and Sanger also apparently somehow obtained access to the confidential report ElBaradei had just submitted on Syria's compliance with its NPT-related IAEA Safeguards Agreement

Deutsche Welle: What issues will the Europeans be most involved with in terms of nuclear security at the Washington summit? Seaboyer: The Europeans will obviously be interested in any discussions on Iran even though it doesn't feature on the agenda. They will also want to address the issue of dual-use goods - nuclear material with both civilian and military uses - and the freedom of movement of this material. The Europeans are much stricter than the Americans when it comes to this. The Non-Proliferation Treaty is another area where the Europeans have a lot of interest and as this summit is a precursor to the NPT conference, most of the Europeans will want to talk about the decommissioning of weapons and how you can make signatories of the NPT who are not complying to reduce their arms."

"Demonstrators with signs stand during an anti-nuclear weapons protest rally and march in New York. Thousands of demonstrators from around the globe have joined together near the UN headquarters in New York, demanding a world free of nuclear weapons. The protesters from the US, Japan, Europe and other countries, urged world leaders to start talks to eliminate the world's nuclear arsenals. Among the rally speakers were mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Kimura Hisako, a survivor of the US atomic attack against Japan in 1945. "Besides the more than ten thousand people in the streets, we have over seven million petition signatures from around the world calling for a world free of nuclear weapons in our lifetime," said Judith Le Blanc, Field Organizer for Peace Action. The peace festival, organized by the 2010 NPT organizing committee, took place on the eve of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference at New York. "