• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

India to carry forward its "profound" conviction about universal N-disarmament

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

New Delhi, Jan 29, IRNA
India-Nuclear Status
Indian National Congress president Sonia Gandhi has said India would continue to carry forward its "profound" conviction about commitment to comprehensive, universal nuclear disarmament.

"Yes, India has nuclear weapons. This became a strategic compulsion for us, born out of the failure to persuade the world to abolish nuclear weapons," she said, while inaugurating an International Conference on "Peace, Non-Violence and Empowerment" organised by the Congress in commemoration of the centenary of the Satyagraha (Non-violent protest to resist injustice) launched by Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa.

Referring to the blueprint for comprehensive, universal nuclear disarmament presented by her late husband Rajiv Gandhi at the United Nations in October 1988, Ms Gandhi said "Just a few days ago, four influential Americans who held very different views while in office, including Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, have drawn attention to his impassioned plea and called for urgent action."

Quoting the words of the Mahatma in the aftermath of Hiroshima that "violence cannot be destroyed by counter-violence...Mankind has to get out of violence only through non-violence", Ms Gandhi said "since then nuclear weapons have become even more of a terrifying reality."

In this context, she pointed that the world's nuclear weapon states had more than adequate atomic arsenal to destroy humanity many times over. "And it is not just clear weapons. We also confront the specter of chemical lad biological weapons."

"An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind", she said, while highlighting that these words of the Mahatma had showed that he was decidedly against the idea that violence was the only answer to violence.

Ms Gandhi said the end of the Cold War had not seen a pandemic of peace and pointed out that the 'growth of nationalism, in the guise of building pride, was stoking prejudice with horrifying consequences.'

2160/1771