§ Llew Smith:To ask the Prime Minister what initiatives he took at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Nigeria to raise with his (a) Indian and (b) Pakistani counterparts the prospects of their respective states joining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as non-nuclear weapon states. [143511]
§ The Prime Minister:I discussed issues of mutual concern with Prime Minister Vajpayee in the margins of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. However, the question of Indian accession to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear weapons state was not raised.
Pakistan is currently suspended from all Councils of the Commonwealth.
We regularly press both countries to accede to both the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.