At the end of their two-day gathering, world leaders were shown a classified video that host and U.S. President Barack Obama said focused attention on possible scenarios that might emerge with respect to terrorist networks laying their hands on a nuclear device. U.S. officials would not term such a threat “remote or imminent.” But it is “real.” “..as Islamist State is squeezed in Syria and Iraq, we can anticipate it lashing out elsewhere,” Mr. Obama said in his concluding remarks, before the screening.
The fourth – and the last in its current format – Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) ended with leaders from more than 50 countries and four international organisations stating in a joint communiqué that “more work remains to be done to prevent non-state actors from obtaining nuclear and other radioactive materials, which could be used for malicious purposes.” The communiqué also noted the progress made since 2010, when the first NSS was convened.
The video showed one potential act of nuclear terrorism, but with multiple scenarios within that, according to sources. The leaders then discussed how to prevent that, the institutional frameworks and international cooperation required and in the event of it happening, how to respond. “In a brief but very sharp intervention, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made some thoughtful remarks,” said an Indian diplomat.
The idea behind the NSS is to get political leaderships across countries directly involved in dealing with the threat of nuclear terrorism, and according to a progress report circulated at the summit, India has taken multiple measures to prevent it. India has set up a permanent team of technical and security experts from multiple ministries and agencies that conducts tabletop exercises simulating nuclear smuggling, phased out the use of Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU), built a database of all radioactive sources in the country and started real-time tracking of these when they are transported and set up a network of 23 emergency response centres across the country for detecting and responding to any nuclear or radiological emergency. India is also in the process of equipping all major seaports and airports of the country with radiation detection machines.
NSG membership
While nuclear security is a serious domestic concern, India also used the platform to push its desire for membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), the exclusive club that controls global nuclear trade.
Mr. Modi met leaders of Canada, Kazakhstan, Britain, New Zealand, Switzerland, and Japan, all members NSG. India’s admission is blocked primarily due the continuing opposition from China. Indian diplomatic sources said there was no specific discussion with the American side on the question of India’s admission to NSG, “but progress is being made.” “India’s export controls list and guidelines have been harmonized with those of the NSG and India looks forward to strengthening its contribution to shared non-proliferation objectives through membership of the export controls regimes,” the progress report said.
More summits possible
Political level coordination between countries on nuclear security will continue in the IAEA biennial ministerial conference – the next one is in December - but the possibility of another summit is “very much open,” said Indian sources. Senior officials involved in the last four summits will continue their collaboration in the format of a Contact Group, and they would decide whether and when a summit is required, the official told The Hindu . Besides IAEA, global coordination to prevent terrorists from acquiring nuclear material will continue in four other forums – the INTERPOL, the UN, the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction, and the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism.
No discussion on Pakistan
The security of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons remains a key concern for the U.S. but that was not a topic at the NSS. U.S. has repeatedly said that Pakistan’s decision to deploy battlefield weapons could increase the risks associated with its theft or sabotage. But the U.S. was particular that NSS could not be a forum for “naming and shaming any particular country.” Mr. Modi, however, touched upon the risk of insider threats – which is the most serious and difficult to detect – to nuclear material in general terms. Pakistani diplomats, talking on the sidelines quoted statistics and claimed that it has one of the best nuclear safety records in the world.
