'Mistake for India not to join CERN'

Kolkata, Feb 6 (IANS) It would be a "mistake" for India not to join CERN, the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which expects the Pakistani government to issue a notification by next month on the country's associate membership of the organisation, a top official has said.

"I think India is in the last iteration of applying... I expect the application very soon. How soon I cannot say. I hope it comes in soon," CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research) director general Rolf Dieter Heuer said here Thursday at a discussion on India's international collaborations in physical sciences organiSed by eminent physicist Bikash Sinha.

Heuer said India, which has observer status, would be committing a mistake if it did not bid for CERN's associate membership.

"Yes, I think so (it would be a mistake). I think India is a nation which is now really high up and it would be a very good move for India to connect with high technology and international brains," Heuer said.

Pakistan steered ahead of India last December and inked a deal on CERN's associate membership subject to ratification by its government.

CERN discovered the Higgs Boson (popularly known as god's particle) at its Large Hadron Collider (LHC) facility - world's most powerful such - which lies in a tunnel beneath the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva.

Today, CERN has 21 member states, and Romania is a candidate to become a member. Serbia is an associate member, while Pakistan will be the only such from Asia.

Heuer said CERN is "expecting the notification of ratification" by March from Pakistan.

Observer status allows non-member states to attend council meetings and to receive council documents without taking part in the decision-making procedures of the organisation.

As an associate member, India would have been entitled to attend open and restricted sessions of the organisation.

To be an associate member, India will have to pay close to $11 million annually.

"With an AM, India could be part of mega science experiments and this will allow more Indian scientists to get involved. It will also allow industries to participate in bids for CERN contracts. It is high time," Heuer said.