The Indian government has called for all nuclear weapons states to join it in talks leading to what it called a global and non-discriminatory convention to control them.

A foreign ministry statement said nuclear arms should be dealt with in the same way as the other two weapons of mass destruction -- chemical and biological -- for which conventions had already been agreed.

Last year, India declined to sign the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, saying it was heavily loaded in favour of the existing nuclear states.

The BBC Delhi correspondent says that, while India has attracted international condemnation for its recent nuclear tests, it has argued that it can now negotiate on nuclear issues from a position of greater strength.