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Joint Statement by the Indian Doctors for Peace and Development and the Pakistan Doctors for Peace and Development on the Nuclear Tests by the Governments of India and Pakistan

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The Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) and the Pakistan Doctors

for Peace and Development (PDPD) -- affiliates of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize

winning International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War -- share

a deep sense of disappointment and profound regret that India and Pakistan

have tested nuclear devices and thereby fired the starting gun in a suicidal

nuclear arms race.

IDPD and PDPD have always held the view that nuclear weapons provide no

security to any nation. The nuclear arms race between the two countries will

further squander precious resources from the social sectors and will have

serious consequences for both the countries. Moreover, provocative voices

and threatening postures have brought South Asia perilously close to

confrontation and destabilization.

The physicians of IDPD and PDPD appeal to the Governments of India and

Pakistan to take immediate steps to de-escalate tensions by initiating

immediate dialogue for an agreement not to develop and deploy nuclear

weapons, refrain from further testing of nuclear-capable missile delivery

systems, and sign a treaty on No-First-Use and non-aggression.

IDPD and PDPD reiterate their commitment to regional and global nuclear

disarmament and emphasize a firm opposition to both vertical and horizontal

nuclear proliferation. The present nuclear weapons tests have vindicated our

commonly held position that horizontal proliferation can never be checked

unless vertical proliferation is tackled and steps are taken to rid the

world of nuclear weapons within a fixed time frame. The NPT and CTBT in

their present forms are deeply flawed on not only moral but also practical

grounds. Both treaties have been exploited as tools by the most egregious

offenders of the global nuclear arms race to perpetuate and legitimize the

possession, use, and threat of use of these weapons of mass destruction.

Both treaties, therefore, lack moral strength and have turned out to be

ineffective.

IDPD and PDPD urge the peace and disarmament movements around the world to

concentrate their energies with single-minded devotion to the Abolition of

Nuclear Weapons from the globe within a fixed time frame. The present CTBT

and NPT should be amended with a clear commitment by all current nuclear

weapon states for nuclear disarmament. The physicians of IDPD and PDPD

rededicate themselves to the task of building bridges of understanding

between India and Pakistan in order to ensure regional peace and stability

in South Asia as an essential prerequisite for global peace and stability.

Dr. S S. Shrivastwa

IDPD International Councilor, India

IPPNW * Co-Vice-President for South Asia

Prof. S. Tipu Sultan

PDPD International Councilor, Pakistan

IPPNW * Co-Vice-President for South Asia

(* International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War)

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