Former envoy says Rudd govt 'should press nuclear disarmament'

Melbourne, Sept 8 (PTI) Amid rise of nuclear energy in
Asia, the Rudd government should press for a disarmament
declaration by the region's leaders and seek U.S. commitment
to reduce its reliance on nuclear weapons, according to Lowy
Institute paper.

The paper, by a former diplomat Rory Medcalf, a former
official at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has
warned that the rise of nuclear energy in Asia and persistent
national rivalries poses a growing long-term threat to
Australia in the so-called "Asian century".

"Nuclear dangers are growing in Asia and globally," the
paper said adding that "nuclear-armed states are keeping and
modernising their arsenals, many with first-use doctrines...
The possibility of the use of nuclear weapons is small but not
diminishing."

The paper envisions potential sources of regional nuclear
instability, including the possibility of crumbling relations
between India and China, an emboldened united Korea and a
Japanese loss of faith in its U.S. alliance.

"Add ingredients of strategic competition, nationalism,
unresolved historical differences and resource and territorial
rivalries, and the Asian century begins to look fragile," it
said, according to 'Sydney Morning Herald' daily today.

"Of potentially even greater concern than an act of
nuclear terrorism would be a broader failure in nuclear
non-proliferation and arms control: a world in which many
states with geopolitical tensions and rivalries possessed
large numbers of weapons, deployed them on high alert, were
willing to brandish them in war-fighting roles, and failed to
engage in confidence-building and transparency" it further
mentioned.

He said in the paper that the Government should push for
a regional leaders' dialogue on nuclear security aimed at
committing the region to non-proliferation, safeguarding
materials, technology and controlling exports.