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Sunday, July 26, 1998

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PM, Sharif may discuss Kashmir
NEW DELHI, July 25 (PTI) — Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee has said he is looking forward to meeting Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif at the SAARC summit in Colombo "with a positive mind and sincerity" and hoped that this interaction would result in a "forward movement" in relations with Pakistan.
In an interview to The Week magazine on the eve of his departure to Colombo and a one-to-one meeting with Mr Sharif, the first between the two Prime Ministers after the nuclear tests, Mr Vajpayee said "We wish to discuss our differences with Pakistan, including those on Kashmir bilaterally".
He, however, ruled out a third party mediation on the Kashmir issue. "We are of the firm view that there is no role for any third party in our bilateral relationships," Mr Vajpayee, who is scheduled to meet Mr Sharif in Colombo on July 29 on the sidelines of SAARC summit, said.
Categorically stating that there was "no tension between the two countries as a result of our tests", the Prime Minister said India would, however, like to work with its neighbour so as to enhance the confidence-building measures.
"In the aftermath of our nuclear tests, we are also prepared to discuss a no-first-use of nuclear weapons agreement with Pakistan," Mr Vajpayee said.
Mr Vajpayee made it clear that India was committed to resolving its differences with Pakistan peacefully and through a process of bilateral dialogue so as to build a stable structure of cooperation.
Asked whether New Delhi would sign the CTBT if Islamabad were to do so, the Prime Minister said "as far as India is concerned, there is no link with Pakistan signing the CTBT as our decision would be based on our national interests".
To a question as to what were the conditions under which India may sign the CTBT, Mr Vajpayee said after the May 1998 nuclear explosions which had given the country the basic capability for assured security, "India had declared a voluntary moratorium and is prepared to move forward on discussing the CTBT".
"This exercise is under way in our bilateral discussions with key countries and reciprocal responses that facilitate progress are being explored," Mr Vajpayee said.
Asked how he saw India’s nuclear policy playing a role in the balance of power in Asia, the Prime Minister said the security concerns of countries in the region had so far been ignored or straitjacketed into a restrictive non-proliferation package artificially limited to a sub-region.
"What we have done has filled this gap not in hegemonistic way but in a responsible mature fashion. This we believe would enhance security and stability in this part of the world," the Prime Minister said.
Asked whether India intended to resume testing of the extended range Agni, Mr Vajpayee said India’s missile development programme had been an open one with test flights routinely announced in the media as were decisions relating to further development and production.
He said the last Agni test had been carried out in 1994 and a credible nuclear deterrent would therefore need further progress with regard to testing Agni.
Asked whether India would negotiate the LOC with Pakistan, the Prime Minister said the state of Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India and this had been reaffirmed by a unanimous resolution adopted by Parliament in 1994.
To a question whether he perceived a danger that Indo-Pak dialogue would overshadow the SAARC agenda, he said, "We hope to make progress (during the summit) on many issues under consideration on the SAARC agenda."

No nuclear scientist expelled from USA
WASHINGTON, July 25 (UNI) — None of the seven Indian scientists, who have been ordered to leave the USA by the end of the next month, are involved in research projects associated with nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles.
They have been working at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a US government research centre in Gaithersburg, Maryland, near here, on two semiconductor manufacturing projects and a ceramics processing project, said NIST spokesman Michael Newman.
The State Department has blacklisted these three projects and has put on hold four projects NIST is running in conjunction with its Indian collaborator, National Physical Laboratory, all related to scientific standards.
Mr Newman said the State Department had asked for a list of the projects with which researchers from Indian institutions were associated. The department decided on who should leave the country and conveyed the decision to NIST, which is run by the Commerce Department.
Mr Newman said NIST did not believe the projects had any direct link with India’s nuclear weapons programme.
Apparently, the seven scientists were asked to quit because of the institutions they represented in India. These are Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Trombay, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) both in Mumbai.
The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research are stated to be on the US Government’s blacklist. Some 62 Indian and five Pakistani institutions are stated to be in this category.
In all, some 30 Indian scientists were currently with NIST, Mr Newman said. There was only one from Pakistan. But, since an American university had sponsored him, he would stay.
He said, "we are doing what we are being asked to do. It is hard on us because we are in the business of promoting science and technology and industrial research, and it’s not normal for us to be doing this kind of thing."
Mr Newman hoped that the problem that led to this unfortunate development would be sorted out soon and the Indian scientists would return to pick up their work where they left off.
Of the seven, one had already left for home. Another had completed his project and was to return in normal course. The remaining five have been time until August 31, to pack off and go.
According to another report, an Indian scientist from the Bhabha centre has also been asked to leave. He is in Illinois and has been using the intense pulsed neutron source of Argonne National Laboratory.
Later, a State Department official said a review of US relations with India and Pakistan in the field of science and technology had of late been going on, particularly concerning those entities in the two countries which dealt with the nuclear weapons and missile programmes.
The State Department official said the purpose of the review was to "ensure that we do not have inappropriate cooperation with India or Pakistan."
He said the exchange programme was very expensive and following the nuclear tests by India and Pakistan, the USA wanted to ensure that these cooperative ventures did not go against the "grain of our non-proliferation objective."
Meanwhile, the Department of Energy (doe) has issued a fact-sheet stating that the sanctions which the USA had imposed on India and Pakistan required the suspension of all doe-financed activities with entities in either of the country, except for humanitarian assistance.
All visits by Indians and Pakistanis from the blacklisted institutions must also be suspended, along with high-level visits to India and Pakistan by doe personnel, it added.
Universities with programmes, which receive doe funding, should seek guidance from the department on whether they should continue activities with the institutions, it said.
NEW DELHI (PTI): In the wake of the US decision to expel Indian scientists following nuclear tests, the government today decided to create a cell to facilitate their return.
Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi has directed the Secretary of Science and Technology to take necessary action in this regard, an official press note said.
Seven Indian scientists who were on deputation to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), under the us Department of Commerce have been asked to wind up their stay. The names of scientists are now known.
Dr T. N. Das from Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC) who was in the USA for a two-year post-doctoral fellowship at NIST and was expected to return in December this year, was told to return and he has rejoined BARC.
Fourteen other scientists/engineers from Department of Atomic Energy Laboratories have gone to the USA on extraordinary leave for a period of one to two years. Of them, five are for a two-year period and are expected to return not earlier than December this year.
Nine scientists and engineers have gone for a period of one year and are scheduled to return to India next month. It is not certain at this stage if any of these 14 scientists are affected.
These scientists and engineers have not been sent by DAE on any training or assignment, but have been taken by the us universities or laboratories on post-doctoral fellowship or as research associates on individual basis.
They have not gone to the USA on any bilateral science and technology cooperation programme.
In addition to the scientists and engineers, three material scientists and metallurgists from DAE laboratories are in the USA on deputation. It is not certain if these three scientists are affected, the note added.

Govt criticised for taking US insult lightly
NEW DELHI, July 25 (PTI) — Former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court Rajinder Sachar today lashed out at the BJP government for not reacting strongly against an "insulting decision" by the USA. Asking Indian scientists to leave the country after India went nuclear.
"It is surprising that the BJP government, which was congratulating itself on becoming a nuclear weapon state, is behaving in such a cowardly manner as to take this insult following that of refusal of visa (by the USA) to the Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission, Dr R. Chidambaram so lightly," he said in a statement here.
Justice Satire, who is the president of People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), said " The government should answer this by a public declaration that there will be no unilateral signing of the CTBT without simultaneous commitment of total world denuclearisation."
He said the USA seemed to be on an insulting spree against India and added a stand for total world denuclearisation "is the only way the BJP government should react, considering that it is always shouting from house top that its first priority is to revive India’s past glory."
Justice Sachar said "Clinton, who swallowed the insult of being received at Tiananmen Sqaure at Beijing (the worst symbol of human right violations) to serve the interests of US multi-nationals, deserves, no better."
Meanwhile, the CPM today criticised the USA for expelling Indian scientists, saying, "such arm-twisting tactics" would not be tolerated by the Indian people.
"Such arm-twisting tactics are not only contrary to international conventions but are aimed at restricting the dissemination of scientific knowledge, which is the property of entire mankind," the CPM politburo said in a statement here.
"The USA must realise that there are a large number of scientists of Indian origin who continue to immensely contribute to scientific and technological development in the USA. The US Administration, hence, cannot afford to be selective," it said.
The party called for nationwide protests against "such coercive tactics of US imperialism."