Sharing the widespread international concerns here that terrorists might get hold of Islamabad?s nuclear arsenal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanded that the world must stop the illegal nuclear trading networks that enjoy the Pakistan Army?s protection.
Without naming Pakistan, Singh told a plenary session of the 47-nation nuclear security summit here that India is worried about the ?danger of nuclear explosives, fissile material and technical know-how falling into the hands of non-state actors?. Fears that the al-Qaeda or the Lashkar- e- Toiba might get hold of Pakistan?s nuclear arsenal have continued to reverberate here despite the efforts of the Pakistani government to assure the world of the safety and security of its nuclear arsenal.
Barack Obama, hosting the nuclear security summit, himself drew attention to the dangers of nuclear terrorism, but told the Pakistani PM Yusuf Raza Gilani that he has confidence in the measures undertaken by Islamabad to secure atomic arsenal.
While Obama played the ?good cop?, sections of the Administration as well as the nonproliferation think tanks continue to play ?bad cop? by underlining the dangers from potential loose nukes in Pakistan. But even as Washington balances the competing imperatives of embracing the Pakistan Army and highlighting the dangers from its nuclear weapons, Singh sought an end to this nuclear kabuki.
The PM argued, ?There should be zero tolerance for individuals and groups which engage in illegal trafficking in nuclear items.?