WASHINGTON: The much-talked-about 46-nation nuclear summit, convened by US President Barak Obama, has remote relevance to India's North-East, high-level sources accompanying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said.

There have been periodical reports of nuclear material being stolen from the unexplored mines of Meghalaya, sources pointed out. ISI is already active in the region especially in collusion with fundamentalists and NE insurgents in neighbouring Bangladesh, the sources said.

"Certain drivers like the nuclear black market and proliferation of nuclear technology can make it easier for terrorist organizations to acquire fissile material," the sources added.

Earlier, the Government had arrested two men in possession of a kilogram of semi-processed uranium which is worth Rs 15 lakh in Guwahati. The seized uranium was suspected to have been stolen from a reserve of high quality uranium ore in Meghalaya.

Enriched uranium -- basically the higher-grade material extracted from the original ore -- is used as fuel for nuclear power stations. In 1993, more than 70 kilograms of "yellow cake" or semi-processed uranium ore was stolen from the DAE laboratory. Police made several arrests and recovered a portion of the stolen ore but bulk of the material remains untraced still.

It is feared that if these materials fall in the hands of the militants of North-East, who have close links with the ISI and the fundamentalists of Bangladesh, the already volatile situation in the region might go out of hand totally.

Dr Manmohan Singh arrived here on Sunday to attend the Nuclear Security Summit hosted by US President Barack Obama. The Prime Minister is equally concerned over the misuse of nuclear material especially by rouge elements. Besides, he has also shown keen interest in exploration and utilization of uranium in Meghalaya.

The Prime Minister will have bilateral meetings with the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and French President Nicolas Sarkozy besides Obama. After a closing reception by Obama, the Prime Minister will leave for Brazil on April 14 to attend the BRIC and IBSA Summit before returning to New Delhi next Sunday.