PRAGOTI

In contrast to the euphoric headlines in the Indian media proclaiming a 'nuclear dawn; and the 'remaking' of the world to suit Nuclear India's ambitions, the internal reception to the completion of the heated debate in the Nuclear Suppliers' Group in Vienna [Images] was sullen and frosty. When the decision, incontestably a major decision, to grant India a waiver from the NSG's tough trading rules was announced on September 6, there was no applause whatever.

It is high time that the global peace movement collectively begins to focus attention on the urgency of achieving the goals set out in the McCloy-Zorin Accord and the Rajiv Gandhi Action Plan. Every effort should be made by such a reinvigorated peace movement to influence the UN member-states to ensure that the next SSOD is held latest by the year 2010. It is a very encouraging sign that, on 9 June 2008 on the 20th anniversary of the proclamation of the Rajiv Gandhi Action Plan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has reaffirmed Government of India's commitment to the Plan. Dr. Manmohan Singh also disclosed that India had recently submitted a Working Paper on Nuclear Disarmament to the UN General Assembly containing initiatives on nuclear disarmament, including a proposal for holding a nuclear weapons convention. If that is the case, nothing prevents India from taking the initiative in organising a global nuclear weapons convention as the initial step towards achieving the goal of general and complete disarmament,says N.D.Jayaprakash.

On June 17, 2008, The Washintgton Post reported that a 47-year-old businessman was sentenced to 35 months in federal prison for illegally exporting more than $2 million in ballistic missile technology to India.