India and the NPT
India and the NPT
Abstract
India's nuclear development has been accompanied by a dual
track strategy of developing and building weapons while criticising the
non-proliferation regime as discriminatory and simultaneously making public
statements and proposals in favour of nuclear disarmament. But with
international progress likely on aspects of nuclear disarmament over the next
few months, India will be in the spotlight at the forthcoming 2010
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference to help move the disarmament
and non-proliferation agenda forward. This article proposes that India meet
this challenge by announcing specific commitments on permanently ending nuclear
testing and plutonium production for weapons by a set date. In the course of
reaching this conclusion, the article traces the history of India's role in the
development of the international non-proliferation regime, its proposals on
disarmament, and also its relationship with the United States with respect to
India's nuclear development and ambitions.