PLEASE CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
Statement by Ambassador Sujata Mehta, Permanent Representative of India to the Conference on Disarmament
CD Plenary – 31 May, 2012
This is the first time that my delegation takes the floor under your Presidency, and therefore please allow me to congratulate you on taking up this position and to assure you of the full cooperation of my delegation. We look forward to a complete cycle of discussions under your leadership and I thank you for this opportunity to make brief remarks on the subject of our plenary today.
Mr. President, without diminishing in any way the priority we attach to nuclear disarmament, my delegation supports the negotiation in the Conference on Disarmament of a non-discriminatory and internationally verifiable treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons and other nuclear explosive devices that would meet India's national security interests.
India was one of the original co-sponsors of consensus UNGA Resolution 48/75L adopted in 1993 which envisaged the FMCT as a significant contribution to nuclear non-proliferation in all its aspects. Our position on the FMCT has been consistent since 1993. We joined consensus on the establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee on an FMCT in the CD in 1995 and then again in 1998. Similarly, India did not stand in the way of consensus on CD/1864 in May 2009 which inter-alia provided for establishment of a Working Group on FMCT as part of CD's Programme of Work. India remains committed to participating in the FMCT negotiations in the CD. India is a nuclear weapon state and as a responsible member of the world community would approach FMCT negotiations as such.
Mr. President, India was able to join the 1993 international consensus on the FMCT as that reflected with clarity the common understanding of the objective of concluding a universal, non-discriminatory and internationally verifiable treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.
India has been fully and consistently supportive of the mandate contained in UNGA resolution 48/75L which was reiterated in 1995 following the adoption of CD/1299 and then again in 1998 and 2009. India does not favour reopening this mandate.
While we share the disappointment on the continuing impasse in the CD, we believe that this is not due to the CD or its rules of procedure. All member states should cooperate to provide political impetus to the multilateral disarmament agenda, which includes early commencement of negotiations on FMCT in the CD on the basis of the agreed mandate. The CD's mandate is to negotiate instruments of universal application. Given the CD's vocation, it is essential that all relevant countries participate in the negotiations and contribute to their successful outcome. As an essential stakeholder in this process, India is prepared to work with other countries towards this end.
While I have the floor, I also want to thank the distinguished Ambassador of Germany for his brief remarks on the FMCT scientific experts meeting co-hosted by Germany with the Netherlands this week. In our view the objective of this exercise is solely to promote understanding of some technical issues that may be pertinent to FMCT negotiations in the CD on the basis of the Shannon Mandate. Naturally given the constraints of format and participation, and as noted by Ambassador Hoffmann, the discussions at such side events can neither be negotiations nor pre-negotiations and cannot prejudge the substantive positions of delegations on technical issues during negotiations.
