4D Subsidiary Body 1 on ‘Cessation of the arms race and nuclear disarmament’

July 31, 2018

Statement by India

Thank you, Mr. Co-ordinator,

We thank you for your letter of 23rd July in which you have listed some useful points around which we could structure our continuing work. For today’s meeting, you have asked us to reflect on effective and practical concrete measures to be taken by nuclear armed States to advance our common goal of a nuclear weapons free world.

For its part, Mr Co-ordinator, India has played an active role in the international community’s endeavours towards nuclear disarmament. India was the first country to call for a ban on nuclear testing in 1954 and a non-discriminatory treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, as distinct from non-dissemination, in 1965. In 1978, India proposed the negotiation of an international convention that would prohibit the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons.

In 1988, India presented the Rajiv Gandhi Action Plan to the General Assembly that provided a holistic framework seeking negotiations for a time-bound commitment for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons. In 1996, India, together with 27 other members of the G21, presented to the CD a Programme of Action, as contained in document CD/1419. This was further endorsed by the G21 in documents CD/1570 and CD/1571.

In 2007, India presented a Working Paper on Nuclear Disarmament to the CD, as contained in CD/1816, which made a number of proposals, that I shall go on to list shortly.

Mr Co-ordinator, India remains committed to universal, non-discriminatory and verifiable nuclear disarmament and to multilateralism in pursuit of that goal. We believe that this goal can be achieved through a step-by-step process underwritten by a universal commitment and an agreed global and non-discriminatory multilateral framework.

India has for some time now been advocating the need for meaningful dialogue among all States possessing nuclear weapons to build trust and confidence and to reduce the salience of nuclear weapons in security doctrines. This idea has also been reiterated by the UNSG in his Disarmament Agenda launched earlier this year.

India has a policy of credible minimum deterrence based on a No First Use posture and non-use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon States. We are prepared to convert these undertakings into multilateral legal arrangements. In 2014, India also called for an agreement among all States possessing nuclear weapons on Global No First Use.

India supports the working paper CD/2067 submitted in 2016 by the G-21 seeking the commencement of negotiations in the CD on a Comprehensive Nuclear Weapons Convention.

We continue to sponsor our resolution on the ‘Convention on the Prohibition of the Use of Nuclear Weapons’ annually at the First Committee. This resolution, first introduced in 1982, reflects our belief that a legally-binding instrument prohibiting the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons negotiated in the CD with the participation of all States possessing nuclear weapons will contribute to the step-by-step de-legitimization of nuclear weapons.

Mr Co-ordinator, we would urge the international community to intensify dialogue so as to build consensus towards achieving our common goal of nuclear disarmament based on the following elements:

• Reaffirmation of the unequivocal commitment of all nuclear weapon States to the goal of complete elimination of nuclear weapons; 
• Reduction of the salience of nuclear weapons in security doctrines;
• Negotiation of a global agreement among nuclear weapon States on ‘no-first-use’ of nuclear-weapons;
• Negotiation in the CD of a universal and legally-binding agreement on non-use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon States;
• Negotiation in the CD with the participation of all States possessing nuclear weapons of a Convention on the complete prohibition of the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons;
• Negotiation in the CD with the participation of all States possessing nuclear weapons of a comprehensive Nuclear Weapons Convention prohibiting the development, production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons and on their destruction, leading to the global, non-discriminatory and verifiable elimination of nuclear weapons within a specified timeframe.

As a responsible State possessing nuclear weapons committed to a world free of nuclear weapons, India remains willing to play a constructive and supportive role in implementing all the above-mentioned proposals.

I thank you, Mr Co-ordinator.