Statement on nuclear dangers

May 26, 2002
India and Pakistan stand on the brink of war over Kashmir with serious dangers of nuclear war between the two countries.

We call upon the international community, through the United Nations Security Council to immediately intervene diplomatically to prevent war and with peace-keeping forces, if necessary, to ensure that neither country uses nuclear weapons under any circumstance.

In this context we express our strong dissatisfaction with the United States Nuclear Posture Review and with the United States withdrawal from the ABM Treaty, and the recently signed nuclear arms treaty between the United States and Russia. This treaty, reflecting the United States Nuclear Posture Review, does far too little too slowly and continues to set the example to the world that nuclear weapons are useful even for the strongest nations.

We urge the United States and Russia to return to the negotiation table to agree to deeper cuts, the irreversible destruction of dismantled warheads, and the immediate de-alerting of their nuclear arsenals.

We further urge that all five declared nuclear weapon states begin multilateral negotiations to fulfill their obligation for an "unequivocal undertaking" to achieve the total elimination of nuclear weapons in the world, including those of India, Pakistan and Israel. The leadership of the United States and Russia, as well as that of the United Kingdom, France and China, is essential to achieve these ends and to present nuclear weapons from being used again.