India will never 'develop, produce, stockpile' bio-weapons

GENEVA: India today reaffirmed its commitment to never "develop, produce, stockpile" biological weapons in the face of new challenges to international peace and security from terrorists and non-state actors.

" India remains committed to improving the effectiveness of the BWC and strengthening its implementation and universalization," Permanent Representative of India to the Conference of Disarmament D B Venkatesh Varma said at the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) here.

"We believe this is necessary in view of the new challenges to international peace and security emanating from proliferation trends, including the threat posed by terrorists or other non-state actors seeking access to biological agents or toxins for terrorist purposes," he said.

It is the responsibility of 170 States, which singed the first biological weapon disarmament treaty, to ensure that their commitments and obligations to ban "an entire class of weapons of mass destruction" are fully and effectively implemented, Varma said addressing the 2013 Meeting of States Parties.

India also urged the BWC to not hamper "legitimate peaceful activities", such as vaccine development, to fight deadly viruses that causes diseases like bird flu and MERS by being "unnecessarily highlighted as posing a risk".