The Hindu Business Line : 'US phasing out N-weapons will depend upon global security'

UNITED NATIONS: The US is “committed” to the ultimate goal of nuclear disarmament but phasing out of the atomic weapons will depend upon the overall global security environment, it's representative told a UN committee.

Until that day comes, the US would continue to reduce its nuclear stockpile “as much as our security and that of our allies permits,” its delegate Ms Christina Rocca told the General Assembly's Disarmament and International Security Committee on Wednesda y.

The US, she said, continues to work diligently in the Conference on Disarmament to begin negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty, in the belief that a ban on production of fissile material for use in nuclear weapons would enhance global non-pro liferation efforts.

It had introduced a draft treaty text in 2006 and called upon all nations to join the United States in observing a moratorium on the production of fissile material for those purposes, Ms Rocca said. While reducing its nuclear stockpile, the US had introd uced concrete changes to its national nuclear posture, reducing reliance on nuclear weapons through a new framework – “The US Nuclear Posture Review”, she said.

That policy framework put less emphasis on the role of nuclear forces as a means of deterrence and greater emphasis on conventional capabilities and a robust industrial base. She said that the primary security challenge facing the world stemmed from att empts by violent extremists and “States of concern”to obtain weapons of mass destruction. - PTI

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