NEW DELHI: Rejecting a report by an international group which raised concerns on nuclear safety in the country, India on Tuesday asserted that it had “impeccable record” and “strictest control” over its nuclear materials.
“All nuclear matters are subject to strict oversight. We have an impeccable record. The government continue to maintain strictest control over nuclear materials,” Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai told reporters here.
His response was specifically to a report prepared by a US think-tank Nuclear Threat Initiative, which listed India at 28th position among 32 countries in the security of nuclear materials, just above Pakistan, North Korea, Vietnam and Iran.
“We had seen the report, but we did not share the conclusions as we believe that it is based on a faulty methodology, especially on issues related to India. All nuclear material in India is subject to strict oversight and control,” he said.
“The report as we see it uses unreliable information. It tends to equate as a general principle security with transparency. That is if something is transparent, it is automatically secure. It does not take adequate account of nature of our own nuclear programme, which is a three-stage nuclear power programme,” Mathai said.
“India is a party to all major international instruments in the field of nuclear security. This includes the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism,” Mathai said.