A task force was set up by Indian Ministry for External Affairs to review India’s existing positions on disarmament and non-proliferation issues and to make recommendations in the light of India’s status as a nuclear-weapon state, India’s security interests, present international realities and possible developments. The task force has submitted its Report to Foreign Secretary.

The three-member task force, included security expert K. Subrahmanyam, Shyam Saran, the prime minister’s special envoy on the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, and Arundhati Ghose and former ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament the task was to evolve informed positions on issues like non-proliferation, missile defence and fissile materials.

The timing of the formation of the task force with the Prime Minister’s approval in June 2007 has aroused apprehensions. Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had said ” the ostensible purposes and its timing arouse apprehensions that it would be used to change our long-held policies on these issues so that they conform to the Hyde Act which is to govern the Indo-US nuclear deal.”

Amongst the various measures included in the Hyde Act, designed to stymie the development of India’s nuclear weapons capability, the two which will have the greatest adverse impact on our national security are those pertaining to the ban on nuclear tests by India and its “working actively with the United States for the early conclusion” of a “multilateral” Fissile Material Cut Off Treaty (FMCT).

However the Manmohan Singh government issued a statement that “The task force was not mandated to deal with the issues related to the 123 Agreement with the United States.”