Changes to NPT must include India, Pakistan, Israel: IAEA

He also flayed the US for trying to forge new nuclear weapons instead of abiding by the NPT, which calls for a concrete roadmap for verified, irreversible nuclear disarmament, complete with a timetable, by America, Britain, France, Russia and China, the nuclear weapon powers recognized by the treaty.

Warning that India and Pakistan are unlikely to agree to give up their nuclear weapons unless the five Permanent Members of the Security Council do likewise, he said the logical point for bringing India and Pakistan into the arms control process would be a part of the global disarmament road map.

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"Any new adjustment to the (NPT) regime must include India, Pakistan and Israel at the negotiating table. Without their inclusion in and commitment to the broad nonproliferation and security reform, our efforts will fail," El Baradei said at a two-day conference on International Non-Proliferation organized by the Carnegie Endowment yesterday.

Meanwhile, the United States has welcomed the meeting between External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri saying that it was an opportunity for progress in bilateral ties and reducing the risk of use of nuclear weapons.

"We do think this is an opportunity for them to make further progress and comprehensive engagement while at the same time agreeing on concrete steps to lower the risk of accidental or intentional use of nuclear weapons. So we do think there are opportunities here and we are glad the parties are pursuing them," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Monday.