Indian nuclear proliferation
Staff Reporter Islamabad
Former Interior Minister and Senator Rehman Malik on Monday urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to take serious notice of continuous nuclear proliferation by India and probe into the incidents on urgent basis.
He suggested the IAEA chief to call an emergency meeting inviting western countries cautioning about this new trend by India to bring uranium as one of the business commodities, being traded openly by private dealers.
In a letter to Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General International Atomic Energy Agency, he said “I would like to draw your kind attention to the combined seizure of 7.1 kg of highly enriched uranium from two citizens of India namely Jigar Jayesh Pandya and Abu Tahir Afzal Husain Choudhary, a scrap dealer, on 6 May 2021 in Mumbai”.
He writes that it was not the first time that such a highly radioactive substance has been seized by police in recent years but in 2016; Indian police seized almost 9 kg (19.8 lbs) of depleted uranium in the Thane area of Maharashtra.
He says, it is, thus, evident that India has been found involved in illicit nuclear proliferation activities and uranium theft, as there is a history of unauthorised possession of radioactive material in India.
Making the letter public at a press conference, Rehman Malik said the present incident and many other incidents which have not yet been reported must be an eye-opener for the IAEA, as it has further endangered nuclear security especially when it is in the hands of an irresponsible extremist government in India.
He stressed that timely warning and necessary legal action will enable to stop the Indian nuclear products from landing in the hands of terrorists.
He urged that world must stop this new wave and mode of terrorism of these dirty bombs which will be too dangerous for the world and will frustrate all modern measures against terrorism.
He writes that the theft of uranium and its subsequent sale to unauthorised customers is not only dangerous for India, its neighbors but to whole world.
He added that seizure of enriched uranium from unauthorised persons in India has raised eyebrows in the world vis-à-vis the safety measures in place in India.
“Although India is not a signatory to Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), yet it was able to secure a waiver from IAEA owing to its supposedly falsely reported ‘excellent record in nuclear security”, he added.
