U.S. Affairs
– that’s all you need to know
By Arun Kumar
–WASHINGTON, D.C.
s leaders from over 50
nations gathered in
Washington to discuss
the nuclear terror
threat, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi made a strong
call to the world to drop the
notion that terrorism is some-
one else’s problem and that “his”
terrorist is not “my” terrorist.
“Terrorism is globally net-
worked. But, we still act only
nationally to counter this
threat,” Modi said at a working
dinner hosted by President
Barack Obama March 31 night
to kick off the two-day Nuclear
Security Summit.
“Nuclear security must
remain an abiding national pri-
ority and all states must com-
pletely abide by their interna-
tional obligations,” Modi told
the world leaders meeting in the
shadow of Brussels and Lahore
terror attacks.
“Without prevention and
prosecution of acts of terrorism,
there is no deterrence against
nuclear terrorism,” he warned
lamenting that while “the reach
and supply chains of terrorism
are global, genuine cooperation
between nation states is not”.
Obama, who is hosting his
fourth and last such summit to
discuss how to prevent terrorists
and other non-state actors from
gaining access to nuclear mate-
rials, was flanked by Modi to the
right and Chinese President Xi
Jinping on the left.
The “dinner table” ran along
the circumference of the East
Room of theWhite House. In the
middle were three big boxes of
flowers, according to a pool
report. Modi, who has come to
Washington after attending the
India-EU summit in the Belgian
capital, said: “Brussels shows us
how real and immediate is the
threat to nuclear security from
terrorism. “Terror has evolved.
Terrorists are using 21st century
technology. But our responses
are rooted in the past,” he said
asking the leaders to focus on
three contemporary features of
terrorism.
“First, today’s terrorism uses
extreme violence as theatre.
Second, we are no longer look-
ing for a man in a cave, but we
are hunting for a terrorist in a
city with a computer or a smart
phone.”
And third, state actors work-
ing with nuclear traffickers and
terrorists present the greatest
risk.”
By putting spotlight on
nuclear security, Obama has
done great service to global
security, Modi said and “this
legacy of President Obama must
endure”.
Earlier, in an opinion piece in
theWashington Post March 31
Obama said: “Of all the threats
to global security and peace, the
most dangerous is the prolifera-
tion and potential use of nuclear
weapons.”
Outlining how to make the
vision of a world without
nuclear weapons a reality, he
wrote: “We’re clear-eyed about
the high hurdles ahead, but I
believe that we must never
resign ourselves to the fatalism
that the spread of nuclear
weapons is inevitable.”
“Even as we deal with the
realities of the world as it is, we
must continue to strive for our
vision of the world as it ought to
be,” Obama wrote.
Secretary of State John Kerry
and Secretary of Energy Ernest
Moniz co-hosted a separate
working dinner for other mem-
bers of the visiting delegations.
“In recent years, 13 countries,
plus Taiwan, have given up
weapons-usable plutonium and
highly-enriched uranium entire-
ly,” Kerry noted. “An additional
12 countries have decreased
their stockpiles of nuclear mate-
rial.”
Since 2009, through various
lines of effort, we have removed
or eliminated enough weapons-
grade fissionable material to
supply nearly 7,000 nuclear
bombs,” he said.
India and other participating
nations will present their nation-
al progress reports on steps
taken by them to strengthen
nuclear security since the last
summit on Friday.
The first of these biennial
nuclear security summits was
held inWashington in April 2010
followed by the summits in
Seoul in March 2012 and The
Hague in March 2014.
– IANS
A
At Nuclear Summit Modi Urges Global Unity Against Terrorism
–WASHINGTON
P
rime Minister Narendra
Modi on was greeted
March 31 by enthusiastic
members of the Indian-
American community in
Washington D.C. where he
attended the Fourth Nuclear
Security Summit.
Modi, who arrived late in the
night from Brussels, shook
hands and smiled and waved at
the Indian-American communi-
ty members on way to theWhite
House to attend the security
summit where world leaders
from over 50 countries are
expected to share their assess-
ment of the threat from nuclear
weapons and materials.
During his two-day stay in
Washington, Modi is scheduled
to interact with a number of
world leaders, including host
President Barack Obama and
U.K. Prime Minister David
Cameron.
– IANS
Modi Greeted By Enthusiastic Indians In Washington
Washington DC:
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi meets
the NRIs outside
hotel, in Washington
DC, March 31.
Above, President Barack Obama talks
with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right,
during a working dinner at the White
House with heads of delegations
attending the Nuclear Security Summit in
Washington March 31. Left, Belgium’s
Foreign Minister Didier Reynders, left,
and Modi, center, pay tribute to the
victims at a street memorial outside
Maelbeek metro station after bomb
attacks took place in the metro and at
Belgian international airport of
Zaventem last week, in Brussels,
Belgium, March 30.
5
News India Times
April 8, 2016
