New Delhi
10 June 2007
The Ministry of External Affairs has constituted a 'task force' to
revisit India's positions on non-proliferation, disarmament, arms control, missile defence
and deterrence. The 'task force' includes Prime Minister's Special Envoy and former
foreign secretary Shyam Saran, defence analyst K Subrahmanyam and former diplomat
Arundhati Ghose. This is the first time such an exercise has been undertaken.
A source privy to the decision-making process in the Ministry of External Affairs told this
newspaper that the members of the 'task force' would revisit some of India's policies "in
the light of the changes in the Cold War" and share their assessment with the policy-
making and policy-planning apparatuses of the government. "It (task force) is an internal
mechanism of the Ministry of External Affairs, to bring India's policies and India's
multilateral positions in line with the changes (in the world today)," the source said.
Another well-placed source, in turn, said that the 'task force' would discuss nuclear
weapon free zone, negative security assurances, nuclear deterrence and energy
cooperation. In short, the source said, the members of the 'task force' would examine the
"whole works". The source went on to suggest that "tangentially", the discussions would
dwell on the terms of the India-United States civilian nuclear cooperation as well and
also seek to address some of the worries of the "NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) world".
The sources said that the exercise had been undertaken to reconcile India's policy
postures and to ensure that those had a "relationship with reality". Accordingly, the
members would seek to advise how the government's position on disarmanent could
lend itself to more "credibility". The issue of dual use technologoies and materials would
also be discussed. No timeline has been stipulated for this 'task force' although its
constitution comes ahead of a visit by US Assistant Secretary of State for International
Security and Nonproliferation John C Rood.
Rood will lead a US delegation to India for the India-US bilateral discussions on
nonproliferation cooperation on June 13 and 14. "[He] will meet with officials from India's
Ministry of External Affairs to discuss global nonproliferation challenges and approaches
to addressing them, including multilateral initiatives and strategic trade controls. He also
will engage on regional security issues, including nuclear and missile issues and
missile defence," the US Department of State has said.
K Subrahmanyam has served as the head of the National Security Council Advisory
Board, which was established by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajapayee to draft the
Indian nuclear doctrine. Ms Ghose was ambassador and permanent representative of
India to United Nations offices in Geneva. She represented India at the Conference on
Disarmament in Geneva in 1996, when India rejected the CTBT.
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