JOIN USIndia dismisses Pakistan's 'uranium trafficking' allegation
The government on Thursday dismissed Pakistan’s allegation about alleged illicit uranium possession and sales in India.
After police recently arrested seven persons at Bokaro in Jharkhand for allegedly trying to sell six kilograms of uranium, Pakistan called for a probe into illicit trafficking of the radioactive material in India. New Delhi, however, hit back to Islamabad and slammed it for making attempts to malign India.
Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson of the ministry of external affairs (MEA), said in New Delhi that the department of atomic energy of the Government of India had confirmed after due evaluation and laboratory analysis of the sample that the material seized in Jharkhand last week was not uranium and not radioactive. “The gratuitous remarks about India by Pakistan’s foreign ministry drawing upon a media report indicate their disposition to malign India without caring to check or verify facts,” Bagchi said, dismissing recent remarks by his counterpart in the Pakistan government, Zahid Hafeez Chaudhry.
Chaudhry recently told journalists in Islamabad that United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 and the IAEA Convention on the physical protection of nuclear material made it binding on nations to ensure stringent measures to prevent nuclear material from falling into the wrong hands.
“It is equally important to ascertain the intent and ultimate user of the attempted uranium sale given its relevance to international peace and security as well as the sanctity of the global non-proliferation regime,” said the spokesperson of the ministry of foreign affairs of the Pakistan government. He cited another recent incident of alleged recovery of seven kilograms of natural uranium at Nagpur in Maharashtra.
“Let me also reaffirm that India maintains a stringent law-based regulatory system for internationally controlled items which is reflected in our impeccable non-proliferation credentials recognised by the international community,” Bagchi said, responding to comments by Chaudhry.