<p>Expectations for decisive action by the 47 countries are low, because existing controls haven’t worked as well as hoped and some nations worry tighter regulation will only slow civilian nuclear power projects.<br /><br />But the White House has high hopes for the two-day Nuclear Security Summit, where the US and Russia are to sign a long-delayed agreement to dispose of tons of weapons-grade plutonium from Cold War-era nuclear weapons. <br /><br />US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the gathering will be the largest assembly of world leaders hosted by an American president since the 1945 San Francisco conference that founded the United Nations.<br /><br />Hillary said some attendees are “helping us keep a very close watch on anyone we think could be part of a network that could lead to the sale of or transfer of nuclear material to al-Qaeda or other terrorist organisations.”<br /><br />Meeting with India, Pak<br /><br />Obama will try to set the tone on Sunday by meeting the leaders of India and Pakistan as well as South Africa and Kazakhstan, two countries that voluntarily gave up nuclear weapons programmes.<br /><br />The conference itself will open on Monday with a dinner hosted by Obama, who also plans to meet individually the leaders of Jordan, Malaysia, Armenia and China. It will close on Tuesday with a joint statement on the threat of the illicit transfer of nuclear materials and technology and a plan for keeping them locked up. Three countries at the heart of a debate over nuclear dangers — Iran, North Korea and Syria — were not invited to the summit, and Israel, whose undeclared nuclear arsenal is a grievance among Muslim nations, scrapped plans for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to attend.<br /><br /></p>
<p>Expectations for decisive action by the 47 countries are low, because existing controls haven’t worked as well as hoped and some nations worry tighter regulation will only slow civilian nuclear power projects.<br /><br />But the White House has high hopes for the two-day Nuclear Security Summit, where the US and Russia are to sign a long-delayed agreement to dispose of tons of weapons-grade plutonium from Cold War-era nuclear weapons. <br /><br />US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the gathering will be the largest assembly of world leaders hosted by an American president since the 1945 San Francisco conference that founded the United Nations.<br /><br />Hillary said some attendees are “helping us keep a very close watch on anyone we think could be part of a network that could lead to the sale of or transfer of nuclear material to al-Qaeda or other terrorist organisations.”<br /><br />Meeting with India, Pak<br /><br />Obama will try to set the tone on Sunday by meeting the leaders of India and Pakistan as well as South Africa and Kazakhstan, two countries that voluntarily gave up nuclear weapons programmes.<br /><br />The conference itself will open on Monday with a dinner hosted by Obama, who also plans to meet individually the leaders of Jordan, Malaysia, Armenia and China. It will close on Tuesday with a joint statement on the threat of the illicit transfer of nuclear materials and technology and a plan for keeping them locked up. Three countries at the heart of a debate over nuclear dangers — Iran, North Korea and Syria — were not invited to the summit, and Israel, whose undeclared nuclear arsenal is a grievance among Muslim nations, scrapped plans for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to attend.<br /><br /></p>