Lavrov: Terror groups acquiring nukes is dangerous

Terror groups acquiring weapons of mass destructions and vehicles of their delivery is dangerous and may pose a huge problem, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says in an interview published by the Moscow-based Nezavissimaya Gazeta daily on Tuesday. He opines on this issue with regard to a threat of leakage and proliferation of sensitive nuclear material from Pakistan, an Itar-Tass, report which summarises the interview, said today. "Neither Pakistan nor India have ever been signatories of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NTP) and that is why they proceed from the assumption they do not violate anything," Lavrov says. "They have developed nuclear weapons and they are open about the fact, they do the testing, they improve the war heads and the missiles. "That is a dangerous thing if one considers the history of knotty relationship between the two countries, including their red-hot phases," he says. Lavrov recalls that Moscow has acted as a facilitator of peace between the two states back from the Soviet era when India and Pakistan were still developing their nukes. "We are highly interested in ensuring that India and Pakistan settle all the differences between them through a direct dialogue," he says. "We are working towards a secure implementation of these programs and the assurance that they don’t call any principles of non-proliferation into question." To this end, Lavrov points to the process of India's inclusion in the Group of Nuclear Suppliers, saying, "This group ensures the transparency of all of its participants, which means that civilian nuclear technologies can be supplied to India - with due observance of the rules worked out by the Group and providing the guarantees against the acquisition of wrong technologies in the hands of the countries that seek to develop a civilian nuclear power industry." "Pakistan would like to join the Group, too, and we are ready to assist the process," Lavrov says. "But unlike India which has never faced situations where its nuclear programmes' components would be trickling abroad. The Pakistani history does contain instances of this - Dr. Khan laboratory and others." "We are maintaining communication with the Pakistanis over how secure their nuclear armaments are and we know the Americans pay huge attention to the problem, too," he says.