‘Don’t expect India to sign NPT in present form’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Mohammad ElBaradei said he did not expect New Delhi to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in its present form.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Mohammad ElBaradei said he did not expect New Delhi to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in its present form.

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“I do not expect India to sign the NPT in its present form... Maybe the CTBT would be more acceptable,” he was quotes as saying while being conferred with the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development on Wednesday.

His remarks assume significance in the wake of the UN Security Council adopting a resolution asking all non-NPT states, including India, to sign the NPT. India has made it clear that it will not sign the pact as a non-weapon state as atomic arsenals are integral to its security.

Asked about Iran’s second uranium enrichment plant at Qom, which it had kept a secret, ElBaradei said: “Unfortunately it has been a setback to the principle of transparency, and to the effort by the international community to build confidence about the Iranian nuclear programme because Iran has been on the wrong side of the law in so far as the IAEA regulation to inform the Agency at an earlier date.”

He said, “Iran was supposed to inform us on the day it was decided to construct the facility. They have not done that. Nonetheless, they have been on the wrong side of the law in so far as informing the Agency about the construction.” He, however, added that he did not think that Iran had an “on-going nuclear weapons programme”.