About the Policy Brief

The stage is set for the third Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) to be held in The Hague (Netherlands) in March 2014. As countries prepare to build on the agenda of the Washington and Seoul Summits and make renewed pledges to domestic and international efforts to secure nuclear materials around the world, the IPCS undertook a policy exercise on what could be an agenda for India.

Undertaken as a two-part exercise, the IPCS discussion series on Global Nuclear Materials Security aimed to review and critique the global stewardship of nuclear materials security, with particular reference to India’s commitments and responsibilities. The following questions were explored during the discussions and informed the subsequent policy recommendations:

•What threatens the security of nuclear materials?

•What is the level of preparedness to address the threat?

•What are the pros and cons of global approaches to securing nuclear materials? Can these impediments be overcome? How?

•What has been and what should be India's role and contributions in the global effort considering India's security and possibly other interests? How does India see the threat of nuclear terrorism?

•What systems does India have in place to ensure the security of nuclear materials?

•What are the impediments to their successful implementation? What is the level of implementation? How can this be improved?

•What can India contribute to strengthen global efforts to secure nuclear materials worldwide?

The expert panel comprised of Amb Lalit Mansingh, Prof R Rajaraman, Amb Sheel Kant Sharma, Prof PR Chari, Amb Arundhati Ghose and Wing Commander Ajey Lele.

The recommendations are based on the discussions led by the expert panel.

Drafted By

Ruhee Neog and Tanvi Kulkarni