HindustanTimes.com

Saturday, September 13, 2003

Threat of Pak N-arms falling into terrorist hands exists: Russia

Vinay Shukla (Press Trust of India)
Moscow, September 13

The threat of Pakistani nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists
s "no more purely theoretical" and this issue had been repeatedly discussed
by the Russian-American sub-group dealing with proliferation of mass
destruction weapons, Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Vyacheslav
Trubnikov has said.

"The threat of Pakistani nuclear weapons falling into the hands of
terrorists is no more purely theoretical due to presence of large number of
extremist groups in Pakistan," Trubnikov told Moscow-based Indian
journalists in an interview.

"We have a sub-group with the US, which has repeatedly discussed the threat
of MDW, not only the nuclear weapons, falling into the hands of the
terrorists," Trubnikov added.

He said this problem could be solved only through the United Nations and the
Security Council, as well as by the global anti-terror coalition.

He reminded that Moscow has presented its draft of the UN convention for
combating nuclear terrorism and New Delhi has proposed a Global convention
on combating the scourge.

"India and Russia could actively interact for the adoption of these
conventions by the United Nations to tackle this threat," Trubnikov said.

Trubnikov is co-chairman of Indo-Russian and Russian-American joint working
groups on countering new global challenges, originally set up by Moscow with
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