Dr Arun Mitra re-elected co-president of IPPNW  

Ludhiana: Dr Arun Mitra, an ENT Surgeon from Ludhiana has been unanimously re-elected Co-President of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). The election took place in a virtual meeting of the International Council of the IPPNW in which 85 representatives from various affiliates from different countries participated. The IPPNW has 4 Presidents therefore they are termed as Co-Presidents. In addition Dr S S Soodan-President Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) was elected as Regional Vice President and a medical student Ms. Ulfat Pardesi from Nashik was elected as International Students’ Representative. It is for the first time that India has three members in the decision making body, the Board of IPPNW. It is pertinent to mention that IPPNW was founded in 1980 and was awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. Then again IPPNW played a major role in formation of International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) which was awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 for getting the Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) through in the UN General Assembly. 

Dr Arun Mitra said that he will continue with more vigour to struggle for a nuclear weapons free world. However, his main focus would be south Asia as the region is in a very serious situation of external and internal strife. Moreover, out of 9 Nuclear Weapons Possessing countries 5, that is Pakistan, India, China, Israel and North Korea are in Asia and if we include Russia also partially then number comes to 5 plus. Our region is most deprived in the world and cannot afford conflicts. He will try to coordinate the efforts along with other affiliates of the region for conflict resolution through mutual dialogue, he said.       
Other Co-Presidents are from Australia, Costa Rica and Kenya. Representatives from the affiliates of Bangladesh and Nepal too have been elected to the Board giving due recognition to the south Asian region by the international community in the IPPNW.