Annan asks India to sign CTBT
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
New Delhi, April 28 -- Seeking India's "active support" to the negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty, UN Secretary General today urged the country to sign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treat (CTBT).
"People in developing countries are all too likely to be the first victims of nuclear weapons if we do not soon make progress both in disarmament and in halting proliferation," he said delivering a lecture here on the changing role of the United Nations.
"I hope India will set an example by rapidly adhering to the convention, and will soon sign and ratify the CTBT, as well as giving active support to the negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty," Annan said.
India has refused to sign the CTBT terming it as discriminatory.
The fissile material cut-off treaty seeks to ban production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.
He said India had made an "enormous" contribution to the world body over the years through the efforts of its Government, scholars, soldiers and international civil servants.
"India has been one of the most eloquent voices helping to shape the UN agenda on behalf of the developing world. And the experience and professionalism of your armed forces has proved invaluable, time and again, in UN peacekeeping operations in which over a hundred Indian soldiers have given their lives," he said.
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::IRNA No.049 28/04/2005 15:41 --End
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