Global Security Newswire

Delegates from rival nuclear states India and Pakistan are set to participate next month in U.S. President Barack Obama's Global Nuclear Security Summit, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 20).

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has announced his intention to attend the conference, scheduled for April 12-13 in Washington. Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit confirmed that Islamabad would send officials to the summit, "but we don't know the composition of the delegation yet."

Participants at the event are expected to discuss securing loose nuclear materials and countering the threat of nuclear terrorism. Invitations have been sent to more than 40 nations, but it remains to be seen how many states will send delegates (Agence France-Presse/Spacewar.com, March 2).

Meanwhile, one of the leaders of the International Commission on Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament said yesterday that 2010 could be a historic year for global nuclear weapons reduction, the Xinhua News Agency (see GSN, Dec. 15, 2009).

"I am reserving judgment. I want 2010 to be a big year for nuclear disarmament," said former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans.

He also expressed hopes for the nuclear summit and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty review conference in May.

"I want the review conference to be a success; I want the Obama summit on nuclear security to be a success; I want [nuclear arms control] negotiations between Russia and the U.S. to be conclude," Evans said (see related GSN story, today).

"Of course I want, like everybody else, some solutions of the Iran and North Korea problems," Evans told reporters (see related GSN stories, today; Xinhua News Agency/Istockanalyst.com, March 2).