With Pakistan obviously on his mind, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned on Tuesday, of the dangers posed by nuclear explosives falling into the hands of non-state actors posing danger to India and other countries. Addressing the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, he pitched for "zero tolerance" against individuals and groups which engage in illegal trafficking of atomic explosives and announced India's decision to set up a 'Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership'.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's presence at the first-ever Nuclear Security Summit hosted by United States President Barack Obama, beginning April 12, will be key for 'critical substantive reasons', believes Dr Ashley J Tellis, an expert on nonproliferation and nuclear security matters.
'The current strain in the relationship is serious and likely to be long lasting.' 'Even if Trump suddenly changes his attitude toward India -- which he is entirely capable of doing -- it is unlikely that New Delhi will be able to pick up the pieces and respond as if nothing has happened.'
'We should watch -- in the near term -- for signs that the two have totally fallen out at a personal, political level.' 'Trump and Modi know how to be dealmakers, but they also know how to hold a grudge.'
During last week's Nuclear Security Summit, President Obama asked the media to leave and then screened videos depicting plausible scenarios pertaining to nuclear terrorism.
Trump has played throughout his career as a deal-maker who could deliver where others could not, and Ukraine represents the ultimate test of that image, notes Manish Dabhade.
The US-hosted Nuclear Security Summit, to be attended by leaders of 40 countries including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is expected to issue a communique endorsing a global crackdown on illicit trade of nuclear material. A draft communique also calls for securing all vulnerable nuclear materials within 4 four years, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
The formulations in the declaration in reference to terrorism is going to be to our "satisfaction", Dammu Ravi, secretary (economic relations) in the external affairs ministry said on Monday.
Obama seeks reduction of nuclear arsenal in India and Pakistan while Pakistan seeks NSG membership
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to raise pitch at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington for strong commitments by individual countries and firm responses by international community against proliferation, amid fears about terrorists gaining access to atomic material.
Proliferation and potential use of nuclear weapons pose the most dangerous threat to global security and peace, US President Barack Obama has said.
The BRICS nations condemned the Pahalgam terror attack, advocated for a zero-tolerance approach to terrorism, and criticized rising tariffs during their summit in Rio de Janeiro. They also addressed global challenges and called for reforms in international institutions.
United States President Donald Trump has expressed strong disapproval of Israel and Iran 'violating the ceasefire' he announced earlier in the day and said the two countries have been fighting 'so long and so hard that they don't know what the f*** they're doing'.
United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday warned that the threat of nuclear weapons remains a challenge as there are still "too many bad actors in search of these dangerous materials", asserting that the world's security depends on the actions that the global community takes.
The trade relationship between India and the United States has been strained by the imposition of 25% tariff by the US on Indian goods.
"The Obama administration has favoured new international civil nuclear-energy architecture, an architecture that allows countries around the world to benefit from the peaceful uses of nuclear energy without increasing proliferation risks," said Robert J Einhorn, Special US Advisor for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Arms Control.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday embarked on a visit to the United States to attend the Nuclear Security Summit, where he is expected to pitch for firm response to the challenges of proliferation and the possibility of terrorists gaining access to nuclear material. During the eight-day visit, Dr Singh will also travel to Brazil to attend the Brazil-Russia-India-China and India-Brazil-South Africa summits.
The Quad grouping has called for bringing the perpetrators, organisers and financiers of the Pahalgam terror attack to justice without any delay and urged UN member nations to extend cooperation for it.
Diplomatic observers and South Asia experts in the US do not believe that two of India's major concerns that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh brought up with President Obama on Afghanistan, during his state visit in November and again recently on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit have been alleviated during the summit between Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
US President Barack Obama vowed to secure all the vulnerable nuclear material around the globe in four years; as terrorist groups like Al Qaeda are aiming at getting a hand on them. "At April's Nuclear Security Summit, we will bring forty-four nations together behind a clear goal: securing all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world in four years, so that they never fall into the hands of terrorists," Obama said in his State of the Union Address.
Ahead of his two-nation visit beginning on Saturday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday met President Pratibha Patil and discussed various issues, including internal security and Indo-Pak matters. A Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson said the meeting lasted for nearly an hour. "The two leaders discussed the upcoming session of Parliament, and the forthcoming visit of the prime minister to Washington for the Nuclear Security Summit," said a press release.
He then went on to say that, however, he won't get a Nobel Peace Prize for any of his efforts.
The second Nuclear Security Summit opens in Seoul on Monday. Will it confront the dangers posed by Pakistan's unsecured nuclear programme, asks Nikhil Lakshman, currently in the South Korean capital.
US President Barack Obama would meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Toronto, a top Indian official said Wednesday. "The Prime Minister would be traveling for the G-20, he will be meeting President Obama," Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma told Indian media-persons in Washington.
At the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul the focus is on countering nuclear terrorism, strengthening nuclear security and ensuring that nuclear material does not fall in the wrong hands.
Sharif said that the US president had shown beyond any doubt that "he is a man for peace... and beneficial business deals".
Pakistan, which was a "major source" of nuclear proliferation in the past, has been invited to the US-hosted Nuclear Security Summit, as America wants it to be part of the solution to the problem, a top Obama Administration official said on Saturday.
While it was a meet and greet encounter between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Reza Gilani on Monday evening, no doubt disappointing journalists on both sides, United States President Barack Obama singled out Dr Singh for a warm hug at the dinner South Korean President Lee Myung-bak hosted for leaders attending the second Nuclear Security Summit, reaffirming in a sense their effusive personal relationship.
The Nuclear Security Summit is being hosted by US President Barack Obama on March 31 and April 1.
Satisfied with the outcome of the Nuclear Security Summit, which vowed to lock down all nuclear materials in four years and prevent terrorist groups from laying a hand on it, United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday said the world will be a more secure place now. "We have seized this opportunity, and because of the steps we've taken -- as individual nations and as an international community - the American people will be safer and world will be more secure," Obama said
Salah Abdeslam possessed documents about Juelich Nuclear Research Centre located near the Belgium-Germany border and being used for the storage of atomic waste, Redaktions Netzwerk Deutschland media group reported.
Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan on Saturday said India's Operation Sindoor has drawn a 'new red line' of intolerance against terror, and expressed hope that the military action has brought 'some lessons for our adversary also'.
The PM said that while terrorists are using 21st century technology, our responses are rooted in the past.
The reality is that far from being friendless, India is better positioned in the world than at any point post-Cold War, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Leaders of the two countries, however, did discuss on Pakistan's nuclear safety and security which is an ongoing discussion.
It would be the prime minister's first bilateral visit to the US after Trump became president for a second term.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay a two-day working visit to the US from February 12 during which he will meet President Donald Trump, the external affairs ministry announced. The visit will give further impetus and direction to India-US bilateral relationship. Prior to his US visit, Modi will be in France from February 10-12 to co-chair the AI Action Summit with French President Emmanuel Macron. He will also visit Cadarache, the site of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor of which India is a partner. During his visit to France from February 10-12, Modi and Macron will also address the India-France CEOs forum. The prime minister and Macron will travel to Marseille where they will inaugurate the Consulate General of India. The leaders will also visit the war cemetery and pay tribute to the sacrifices made by Indian soldiers in World War 1. Modi and Macron will visit Cadarache, the site of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). There has been a very close rapport between Trump and Modi, dating back to the US leader's first term. There is a clear convergence of interests between the two countries in several areas, including trade, investment, technology, defense cooperation, counterterrorism, Indo-Pacific security, and people-to-people relations.
The 'mediation' by the United States from behind the scene on the diplomatic track appears to be once again working, which calls on both Delhi and Islamabad to show restraint and pull back from a military confrontation, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
US Vice President JD Vance called on India to drop non-tariff barriers, give greater access to its markets and buy more American energy products and military hardware. Vance, in a speech in Jaipur, highlighted the need for a stronger US-India partnership for a prosperous and peaceful 21st century. He emphasized the importance of working together to address global challenges and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, describing him as a "special person." Vance also urged India to provide greater market access to American products and buy more defense platforms and energy from the US. He suggested that India consider dropping some of the non-tariff barriers for American access to the Indian market and highlighted the benefits of closer India-US defense collaboration, advocating for New Delhi to procure more military hardware from the US. He cited the example of American fifth-generation F-35s, arguing they would give the Indian Air Force the ability to defend its airspace and protect its people like never before. Vance also welcomed the Modi government's budget announcement to amend India's civil nuclear liability laws, paving the way for US producers to export small modular reactors and build larger US-designed reactors in India. He emphasized the importance of energy security for India's AI ambitions, stating "there is no AI future without energy security and energy dominance." Vance's visit comes amid growing global concerns over the US's tariff war.
US officials say that outreach and public statements from Modi and others helped avert a crisis.
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