February 07, 2014
CNDP Briefing
on the
Second Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons
13-14 February, Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit, MexicoCNDP supports the Second Conference on the Humanitarian Impacts of Nuclear Weapons, being organised next week in Mexico, where around 130 countries are participating. Several prestigious international organisations such as the International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and civil society organisations coordinated by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons(ICAN) are also participating.
This conference aims to deepen the understanding of the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons as a follow-up to the discussions in Oslo in March 2013. It is expected that the Mexico conference would result in an international call for a new treaty banning nuclear weapons.India is going to participate officially in the upcoming conference in Mexico. We urge the Indian government to actively support the initiative and join the call for the nuclear ban treaty. We are encouraged to see that India and Pakistan have registered for the conference, while other nuclear-armed nations have not. The response this conference has received worldwide is a testimony to the fact that abolishing nuclear weapons remains a deeply popular aspiration and the world must progress faster towards this goal.
Kumar Sundaram would be participating in the Mexico conference on behalf of CNDP, India and will be a representative from Indian civil society. He will be issuing and forwarding briefs and related updates from the conference and can be reached on cndpindia@gmail.com.
The website of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICANW.org), and a site specially launched for this conference www.goodbyenuk.es can be accessed for more detailed information. Updates will also appear on the CNDP website.
With warm regards
Achin Vanaik
Praful Bidwai
Anil Chaudhary
Lalita Ramdas
Abey George
and others