Joint Statement by Gareth Evans and Yoriko Kawaguchi, Co-chairs

South Asia Regional Meeting of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament

New Delhi: 2-4 October 2009

The International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament held its fourth regional meeting - for South Asia - in New Delhi, 2 -4 October. The two day meeting brought together several Commissioners and a number of Advisory Board members with a broad range of experts from around the region, from Government agencies, think-tanks, academia and the nuclear power sector.

The meeting was convened with the support and assistance of the Delhi Policy Group. Discussion was structured around the three pillars underlying the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty: pursuing nuclear disarmament, preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, and facilitating the safe and peaceful uses of nuclear technology to meet growing regional energy demand.

In considering disarmament matters the meeting reviewed the international agenda as well as regionally specific nuclear security issues – and noted strong linkages between the two. Participants were optimistic that the renewed focus of major powers on disarmament, led by the US and Russia, offered opportunity for progress. It was broadly recognised that a near term priority was bringing the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty into force, and commencing negotiations on a treaty to end the production of material for nuclear weapons.

Participants looked forward to a successful review of the Non-Proliferation Treaty in May 2010. While the NPT had near universal acceptance, it was widely recognised that the contributions of the three states outside the treaty, India, Israel and Pakistan, were vital to global efforts to stem proliferation. Regional security dynamics were analysed along with the scope for confidence building measures. Views were divided on whether regional nuclear arsenals could be contained in the absence of progress in resolving regional tensions.

Meeting participants registered strong support for the role of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and were briefed on the ambitious safeguarded nuclear power plans of India and Pakistan – which they see as an essential developmental right. In this context the meeting considered how sensitive nuclear activities could be managed to ensure their safety and security.

For detailed background on the Commission, an independent global panel established by the governments of Australia and Japan, see http://www.icnnd.org"www.icnnd.org.

List of Meeting Participants in the South Asia Regional Meeting
New Delhi, 2-4 October 2009

COMMISSIONERS

Mr Gareth Evans (Co-Chair – Australia), Mrs Yoriko Kawaguchi (Co-Chair – Japan), Mr Brajesh Mishra, General (ret.) (India), Dr Frene Noshir Ginwala (South Africa), Gen (ret.) Klaus Naumann (Germany), Baroness Shirley Williams (United Kingdom).

ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS

Ambassador Nobuyasu Abe (Japan), Ms Louise Frechette (Canada), Mr Prasad Kariyawasam (Sri Lanka), Mr Rory Medcalf (Australia), Dr George Perkovich (United States), Lt Gen (ret.) V. R. Raghavan (India).

REGIONAL PARTICIPANTS

Bangladesh:
Major General Sheikh Md Monirul Islam (Director General, Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies)
Dr Md Mosharraf Hossain (Chairman, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission)
Ms Nahida Sobhan (Director, UN Wing, Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

India:
Ambassador Satish Chandra (Nuclear and security analyst and former Indian Deputy National Security Adviser)
Mr Amandeep Singh Gill (Director, Disarmament and International Security Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs)
Professor R Rajaraman (Emeritus Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Co-Chairman International Panel on Fissile Materials)
Mr Shyam Saran (Indian Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for the India-US Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement and for Climate Change)
Dr Manpreet Sethi (Senior Fellow, Centre for Air Power Studies)
Mr Narendra Sisodia (Director, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses)
Mr K Subrahmanyam (Defence analyst and former Director of the Indian Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses)
Mr B G Verghese (Research Professor, Centre for Policy Research)
Ambassador K Shankar Bajpai (Chairman, Delhi Policy Group and Chairman, National Security Advisory Board)

Nepal:
Professor Lok Raj Baral (Professor and Executive Chairman, Nepal Centre for Contemporary Studies)
Dr Madan Kumar Bhattarai (Secretary and Spokesman, Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Pakistan:
Dr Rifaat Hussain (Chairman, Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University)
Ambassador Tariq Osman Hyder (member of the Oversight Board for Strategic Export Controls, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and of the Faculty of the National Defence University)
General (ret.) Talat Masood (Visiting Fellow at the Stimson Centre, Washington and associate of Bradford University, former Secretary for Defence Production, Ministry of Defence)
Brigadier (ret.) Naeem Ahmed Salik (Department of Nuclear Politics and Strategic Stability, National Defence University)

Sri Lanka:
Ambassador Geetha de Silva (Associate Director, Regional Centre for Strategic Studies)

United Nations:
Mr Taijiro Kimura (Director, United Nations Regional Center for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific)

For further information please contact ICNND Media Liaison Officer:
Leona Landers (Mobile: +61 2 421 588457), e-mail: icnnd@dfat.gov.au and Australian High Commission New Delhi: Shekhar Nambiar 9810154167, e-mail: shekhar.nambiar@dfat.gov.au.