AMBASSADOR MUNIR AKRAM (FILE)
NEW YORK: Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations Ambassador Munir Akram demanded that the UN Security Council should launch a probe into recurring theft and illicit sale of nuclear and radioactive materials in India.
“Security Council should be deeply concerned at recurring incidents of theft and illicit sale of nuclear and other radioactive materials in our eastern neighbour,” Ambassador Akram informed a committee formed by the council to take steps to prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
“In the latest incident last August 2024, a group was found in illegal possession of a large quantity of highly radioactive and toxic substance Californium, worth US$ 100 million,” he said, adding that three incidents of theft of Californium were reported also in India in 2021.
These incidents, Ambassador Akram suggested the existence of a black market for sensitive materials.
At the same time, the Pakistani envoy said, “While preventing non-state actors from acquiring sensitive materials, rights of States to peaceful use of dual-use technologies must be safeguarded. Export-control regimes should not serve as tools of coercion and discrimination.”
Under the terms of resolution 1540, the Security Council demands that all States refrain from providing any form of support to non-state actors that attempt to develop, acquire, manufacture, possess, transport, transfer, or use nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons and their means of delivery, in particular for terrorist purposes.
The resolution requires all states to adopt and enforce appropriate laws to this effect as well as other effective measures to prevent the proliferation of these weapons and their means of delivery to non-state actors, in particular for terrorist purposes.–APP
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