India, Pak to be kept out of N-club
Yeltsin-Clinton pact on plutonium

MOSCOW, Sept 2 (PTI) — The USA and Russia today decided to work together to persuade India and Pakistan to "give up their arms race", agreed not to recognise the two as nuclear powers and urged all countries to sign CTBT. Winding up the two-day summit, US President Bill Clinton and his Russian counterpart Boris Yeltsin also declared their commitment to tighten the rules for supply of nuclear equipment from the group of five recognised nuclear powers.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin (right) and U.S. President Bill Clinton smile as U.S. Secretary of State Madelline Albright and Russian acting Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov (far right) exchange just-signed documents in Moscow's Kremlin, on Wednesday. — AP/PTI

Besides, the two leaders signed agreements to provide tip-offs on worldwide missile launches and reduce plutonium stockpiles, even as Moscow conveyed its opposition to NATO’s eastward expansion and sought America’s political support to help it out of its financial crisis.

"We have renewed our commitment to persuade India and Pakistan to reverse their arms race," Mr Clinton told a joint press conference at the Kremlin after the talks.

Without naming India and Pakistan, Mr Clinton and Yeltsin affirmed their commitment not to recognise the two South Asian neighbours as nuclear powers despite the testing of nuclear devices by them.

The two super powers also decided to set up within a month several joint-working groups to check the proliferation of nuclear and other sensitive technology.

In a joint declaration on "the common challenges on the threshold of the 21st century", the USA and Russia reiterated their commitment to achieve the goal of all the countries signing the nuclear non-proliferation treaty "in its present form, without any change."

Urging all countries to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), they declared their commitment to tighten the rules of nuclear supply from the group of five recognised nuclear countries.

However, the agreement described by both the Presidents as "important" for the security of American and Russian people was the decision to set up a joint centre in Russia to globally monitor the launches of ballistic missiles and space launch vehicles to avert an accidental war.

"We have reached an important agreement to increase the safety of all our people. An arrangement under which our countries will give each other continuous information on worldwide launches of ballistic missiles or space-launched vehicles," Mr Clinton said.

He added that "this will reduce the possibility of nuclear war by mistake or accident and give us information about missile activity of other countries."

"We have also agreed to remove from each others’ nuclear programmes approximately 15 tonnes of plutonium. Once converted, this plutonium can never again be used to make weapons.

The accords risk being the only result of a summit overshadowed by chaos on Russia’s domestic political scene amidst calls for Mr Yeltsin to quit as the economic meltdown proceeded apace.

Mr Clinton initially wanted to make the delayed summit conditional on ratification by the Russian Duma of the START II arms reduction treaty, but backtracked as the number of urgent foreign policy issues mounted.

Last month’s US missile strikes against suspected terrorist sites in Afghanistan and Sudan further dimmed the treaty’s prospects. The strikes "outraged" Mr Yeltsin and were unanimously condemned by Russia’s political class.

Mr Yeltsin and Mr Clinton resumed their talks around 12.30 pm in the Kremlin, at the start of day two of their parleys, with Mr Yeltsin, 67, moving slowly and giving his guest a small smile.

On Russia’s shattered economy, the US President said new finances would depend on Moscow’s commitment to continue with the economic reforms process.

Chernomyrdin urged to withdraw
Russia’s state Duma, Lower House of Parliament, today urged Mr Viktor Chernomyrdin to withdraw his candidature for the job of Prime Minister.

Two days after President Boris Yeltsin’s candidate was crushed in a first-round vote in Parliament, the Duma said in a resolution that the Kremlin’s insistence on Mr Chernomyrdin was leading Russia into confrontation and conflict.

"Your voluntary withdrawal from the post of Prime Minister could ease the situation and start the quest for a compromise," the Duma resolution approved by 255 votes in favour and 40 against said.

Mr Chernomyrdin was routed in his first hearing on Monday, getting only 94 of the 226 votes needed for confirmation.

Russia not to stop defence cooperation

MOSCOW, Sept 2 (PTI) — Russia today rejected US suggestion that Moscow should stop military cooperation with Delhi.

"Any question of stopping defence cooperation with India has to be discussed in the context of the US military-technical cooperation with Israel, Saudi Arabia and its NATO allies in the close vicinity of the Russian borders," a Kremlin official told PTI.

US President Bill Clinton had asked his Russian counterpart Boris Yeltsin during summit talks yesterday that Moscow should cease military cooperation with Delhi.

Significantly, the Moscow Declaration issued after the summit today also did not mention anything about any Russian commitment to stop defence ties with India.

India is the biggest customer of Russian arms in the world and Indian orders to the tune of $ 2 billion annually have a vital importance for the cash-strapped Russian economy.

According to the Russian defence sources Washington is greatly alarmed at the Delhi-Moscow negotiations for the development of an advanced air-defence system capable of protecting India from the "punitive" missile strikers similar to the recent US attacks on Afghanistan and Sudan.