Lead the world in nuclear disarmament, India urged

A group of six senior Fellows of the renowned World Academy of Art and Science have urged India to take the lead in ridding the world of nuclear weapons in its own interest as well as in the interest of humanity.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the Fellows said India was best placed to spearhead the initiative on disarmament, given its heritage. “India has enormous psychological resonance for much of the world. For those who appreciate the mystery of the life of civilisation, India represents more than a great nation. Its name resonates in the heart as a cultural, spiritual treasury for all humanity. India is an example of a multi-cultural, pluralistic society that rests upon a culture of reverence for life and the mystery that gifts it. Nuclear weapons are inconsistent with this heritage.”

Citing examples of near nuclear catastrophes because of technical glitches in the United States and Russia, the Fellows noted that security experts in the West often referred to South Asia as the most dangerous nuclear fault line in the world.

“The United States is log jammed due to partisan political distortions and an extremely powerful military industrial media complex. Russia's leadership in many ways still feels threatened by the West. One can expect little substantial progress on nuclear disarmament arising from any of the P5 [countries],” they said.

The letter issued on behalf of the Academy's Committee on Peace and Development is signed by Gary Jacobs, chairman of the panel; Jonathan Granoff, president, Global Security Institute; Winston Nagan, Professor of Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law; Ivo Slaus, president of the South East European Division of the Academy; Robert Berg, former senior advisor to four United Nations agencies; and Pushpa M. Bhargava, former member of the National Security Advisory Board.