UN asks India, Pak, Israel to join NPT, CTBT

UNITED NATIONS: In a departure from tradition of not singling out countries by name, the United Nations has asked India, Pakistan and Israel to join NPT and CTBT without further delay and pre-conditions.

The UN's call to the three countries to join Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty and Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) came at the end of the month-long 2010 NPT review conference here yesterday.

While it was expected that the names would be dropped in favour of a general statement calling for the universality of the NPT, the final document produced at the conference specifically called on India, Pakistan and Israel to accede to the treaty without further delay and pre-conditions.

"The conference remains convinced that universal adherence to the treaty can achieve this goal (of non-proliferation) and it calls upon all States not parties to the Treaty, India, Israel and Pakistan to accede to it without further delay and without conditions," the final document said.

The 189 delegates to the conference also called on the "three states, operating unsafeguarded nuclear facilities to reverse clearly and urgently any policies to pursue any nuclear weapon development or deployment and to refrain from any action which would undermine regional peace and security," it said.

The NPT Review Conference is held every five years to assess the progress in reaching the goals set out in the 1970 treaty to disarm and stop the spread of nuclear weapons.

India, Pakistan and Israel did not attend the meet. The last conference in 2005 had ended in failure.

In a section on South Asia in the text, the UN urged India and Pakistan to place all nuclear facilities under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

"The conference urges both states to strengthen their non-proliferation export control measures over technologies, material and equipment that can be used for the production of nuclear weapons and their delivery systems," it said.