Non-signatories of Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty (NPT) should join the group in the interest of global safety and security, top world leaders have said.
"We want universal adherence. We continue to urge all states, every single one of them outside the NPT to join the treaty.... accept the full scope of safeguards by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as required under the treaty," US Secretary of State Clinton said at the Review
Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty.
"We continue to hope that we will see all nations eventually agree that being a signatory to the NPT is in their interest and the interest of global safety and security," she said in response to a question about India, Pakistan's and
Israel's absence from the treaty.
The three countries are not attending the Conference that is expected to yield a consensus document to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also called on all nations to join the NPT in his address at the Conference.
"I urge those countries that are currently outside the Treaty regime to accede to it as soon as possible. Pending their accession, there is a need for measures to ensure the safety and security of those countries' arsenals and
technology. Nuclear materials must not be acquired by non-state actors and terrorists," Ban said.
Without naming any of non-signatories, Clinton noted,"We believe strongly in this and that is why we are taking steps that have never been taken by any Administration before and we
would like every nation to become a signatory."
Similarly, Yukiya Amano, the head of the IAEA, called for all nations outside the NPT to join the pact.
India would not be participating in the NPT Review Conference at the UN Headquarters, according to the Indian mission to the UN here.
"We are not parties to the NPT and we will not be participating," an official of the Indian mission said, noting that India would not be present in any capacity at the Conference.
Ahead of the conference, the US had rejected the view that the Indo-US Civil Nuclear deal had undermined the treaty.
"We don't believe we weakened the NPT in our peaceful civilian nuclear deal with India, that it's a deal that comes with safeguards and it comes with a number of other transparency mechanisms that we think, frankly, add to the
security and the nonproliferation concerns that we had prior to that," Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, Ellen Tauscher had said last week.