Seoul: India on Tuesday made a strong pitch for membership of four exclusive nuclear clubs contending that it would help strengthen its export control systems and maintain highest international standards of its nuclear programme.
"India has never been a source of proliferation of sensitive technologies and we are determined to further strengthen our export control systems to keep them on par with the highest international standards," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, addressing the second Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul.
He underlined that India had already adhered to the guidelines of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).
"As a like minded country with the ability and willingness to promote global non-proliferation objectives, we believe that the next logical step is India's membership of the four export control regimes," Singh said.
India is keen for membership of the NSG, MTCR, Wassenaar Arrangement and the Australia Group.
At the same time, Singh said an agreed multilateral framework involving all states possessing nuclear weapons was necessary to attain the goal of a nuclear weapons free world.
"This should include measures to reduce nuclear dangers by reducing the salience of nuclear weapons in security doctrines and by increasing universal restraints on the first use of nuclear weapons," he said.
The Prime Minister also announced a contribution of one million dollars to the International Atomic Energy Agency's Nuclear Security Fund for the years 2012-13.
He said India was also expanding its technical assistance to developing countries, including providing "our indigenously developed Cobalt tele-therapy machines -- Bhabhatrons -- for cancer treatment".
The tele-therapy machines have been donated to Vietnam in 2008 and agreements have been signed with Sri Lanka and Namibia for its supply which are a step towards affordable treatment of cancer.
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