In his remarks, Obama commended the “significant progress” achieved in improving nuclear security around the world since the first NSS in 2010, which, he said, has made it harder for terrorists to acquire nuclear material. “And, if they ever got hold of a nuclear weapon or nuclear material, we have no doubt they’d use it”, the US President said.
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US President Barack Obama has questioned Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s foreign policy credentials, saying he doesn’t “know much” about the world.
The threat from terrorists trying to launch a nuclear attack that would “change our world” is real, Obama told the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington adding that the world has taken “concrete” steps to prevent nuclear terrorism. Militants were found to have videotaped the daily routine of a senior manager of a Belgian nuclear plant, Mr Obama said.
Earlier today he announced New Zealand would ratify conventions on the physical protection of nuclear material and the on the suppression of acts of nuclear terrorism.
But the president urged leaders to protect some 2,000 tons of nuclear material around the world from terrorists.
The Global Partnership is a multilateral initiative to reduce the risk of terrorism involving weapons of mass destruction.
This week’s summit is the fourth and final one since 2000, when Obama hosted the inaugural session as part of efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons. Some states and particularly North Korea are aggressively pursuing the building of a nuclear arsenal.
Pakistan is a member of the nuclear club, possessing both civil power-generation and nuclear weaponry, with more of both in the near to medium term.
The two countries also agreed that Japan would have an additional amount of highly enriched uranium meant for research transferred to the United States.
President Barack Obama has said he would like to further cut the United States nuclear arsenal, admitting he has concerns about efforts to modernise America’s most deadly weapons. “We have a nuclear stockpile that we have to make sure is safe and make sure is reliable”. Mr. Obama said it has prevented the possibilities of a nuclear escalation in conflict between countries that in the past and throughout history have been engaged in hugely destructive conflicts and controversies.
At this year’s summit – Obama’s last major push on denuclearization – deep concerns about nuclear terrorism have tempered other, more positive signs of the world coming together to confront the broader nuclear threat.
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“As ISIL is squeezed in Syria and Iraq, we can anticipate it lashing out elsewhere”, he said.
