Working towards a world without nuclear threat

United States President Barack Obama should be given credit for bringing 47 world leaders to Washington DC and accomplishing an almost impossible task. These leaders have pledged to protect the world from nuclear attack and destruction and make sure that nuclear weapons and materials will never fall into the hands of terrorists. The meeting agreed that countries that have weapons of mass destruction, and those that aspire to have them, must take responsibility to guard their arsenals to ensure the safety of humanity. Everyone understands clearly that the world's worst nightmare would be for terrorists to get hold of nuclear weapons, because they would have no hesitation to use them.

The Washington summit was a success for Obama as he was able to fulfil a pledge that he gave in Prague last year. Now, more attention must be focused, and concrete policies be formulated, to turn the summit's commitments into reality. Nuclear arms containment and reduction is once again high on the international agenda. Additional efforts in this arena will be made when the review of the Non-Proliferation Treaty is held next month in New York.

Aside from Iran and North Korea's weapons development programmes, one of the world's biggest problems is the stockpile of nuclear weapons held by arch-enemies India and Pakistan. The leaders of both countries have expressed confidence in their own nuclear security policies.

Closer to home, members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) must also come clean on their nuclear security policies. The region's 600 million people have been debating the pros and cons of a nuclear-powered future. With the limited life span of oil and gas supplies, the idea of nuclear power appeals to some in the region. Several countries have established plans to build nuclear power plants to provide electricity. Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam already have such blueprints. Singapore has not ruled out the nuclear option either. These are the countries that have made their intentions known.

However, Burma has not yet done so. Previously, Burma had been the first regional country to declare that it would pursue a nuclear power plan for peaceful uses. It is believed that nearly 10,000 officials from Burma have been trained by nuclear experts in Russia. Worryingly, of late, various reports have emerged that Burma has another ambition - gaining the capacity to build a nuclear bomb. Obviously this would be a long-term objective for Burma - and is probably a far-fetched notion - but it cannot be completely ruled out if Burma received help from "rogue states" such as North Korea or Iran. International investigation is going on to determine if the reports of Burma's nuclear aspirations are true.

Meanwhile, it is incumbent upon Asean - which has a non-nuclear treaty called the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapons Free Zone - to uphold the principles it is bound to under this agreement. All Asean members signed this important treaty that does not permit any member state to own nuclear weapons, or build them. The treaty prevents the region from entanglement in the rivalries of the world's nuclear powers by refusing port calls from ships carrying nuclear weapons.

Now that Asean is increasing its international profile, it is imperative that the grouping makes sure that its members adhere to the treaty and the non-proliferation regime. Any deviation from this objective would be disastrous for the region as a whole.