New Delhi:
India has hinted at flexibility on signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). On Tuesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told his Japanese counterpart Yukio Hatoyama in a meeting that if America and China ratify the treaty, then "it will create a new situation".
"With regard to the non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), we have to recognise that there is a difference. With CTBT I expressed my hope that together with US and China, India will also ratify it soon. Prime Minister Singh said should America and China sign, it will create a new situation," Hatoyama said after the meeting.
This is the first time that the UPA government has indicated such a possibility.
"I have mentioned to the Japanese Prime Minister that India has moratorium on testing, and an impeccable non-proliferation record. India is deeply interested in working with Japan to promote cause of verifiable non discriminatory nuclear disarmament," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said.
Japan has had a long-standing position on the NPT and the CTBT since the World War II bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, even though India maintains the treaties are discriminatory.
Nonetheless, Japan backed India at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) because of India's non-proliferation record.
But as 2010 begins, New Delhi will also see renewed pressure from Washington, with US President Barack Obama making the CTBT and the NPT a priority issue.
"With regard to the non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), we have to recognise that there is a difference. With CTBT I expressed my hope that together with US and China, India will also ratify it soon. Prime Minister Singh said should America and China sign, it will create a new situation," Hatoyama said after the meeting.
This is the first time that the UPA government has indicated such a possibility.
"I have mentioned to the Japanese Prime Minister that India has moratorium on testing, and an impeccable non-proliferation record. India is deeply interested in working with Japan to promote cause of verifiable non discriminatory nuclear disarmament," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said.
Japan has had a long-standing position on the NPT and the CTBT since the World War II bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, even though India maintains the treaties are discriminatory.
Nonetheless, Japan backed India at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) because of India's non-proliferation record.
But as 2010 begins, New Delhi will also see renewed pressure from Washington, with US President Barack Obama making the CTBT and the NPT a priority issue.
