Indian, Pak offers on CTBT:
USA not to lift sanctions

WASHINGTON, Sept 25 (PTI, UNI) — The USA has made it clear that it will not lift sanctions against India and Pakistan merely on the basis of their willingness to sign the comprehensive test-ban treaty (CTBT) and said both countries had a long way to go before the punitive measures could be eased.

Mere willingness to sign the treaty was not adequate for the USA to lift the sanctions and much remained to be done, including actual signing and ratifying the treaty, finding a formula for a moratorium on fissile materials and structuring a restraint regime on nuclear weapons and their means of delivery, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told reporters.

She was reacting to announcements made by the Indian and Pakistani Prime Ministers at the UN General Assembly expressing readiness to sign the treaty before September, 1999, provided the sanctions were lifted.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee told the UN General Assembly yesterday that India was ready to sign the CTBT before September, 1999, provided the sanctions were lifted and other concerns met.

US President Bill Clinton welcomed the announcements and said: "It is my strong hope that India and Pakistan will join the list of signatories to the CTBT and thereby reduce the nuclear tension in South Asia."

Ms Albright said the two prime ministers agreeing to pursue talks on their disputes, including Kashmir, "is very important since they deal with the root causes".

Besides, she said, the two countries were moving towards "adherence" to the CTBT. "They have removed their obstacles to the fissile material cut off treaty negotiations and promised to strengthen controls on the export of sensitive (nuclear) materials and technology, but still much remained to be done", she said.

Asked whether she was now prepared to recommend that sanctions on these countries should be lifted, Ms Albright said, "We have to look at how this all progresses but there have been no decisions made. India and Pakistan have both made some kind of conditional commitment to sign the CTBT in September, 1999".

Basically, she added, the USA would be looking for actions, she added.

Replying to a question, she said the USA "is glad" that Kashmir was going to be a part of a dialogue. "We believe that the two countries need to deal with each other," she added.

Ms Albright said: "I don’t want to overstate what has happened here. They are important steps but there are many (more) steps that need to be taken and we’re not prepared to make a judgement on it."

The two prime ministers announced in their separate addresses at the UN that the two countries were willing to sign the CTBT provided Washington lifted sanctions against them.

"We welcome statements by the two prime ministers," White House spokesman P.J. Crowley said.

On Mr Clinton’s proposed visit to South Asia, an official involved in discussions with India and Pakistan, said the trip this year seemed impossible but could be possible next year.

Other officials said Mr Clinton did not mention the lifting of the sanctions and that the USA demanded much more from India and Pakistan before it lifted them.

Apart from other demands, controls on nuclear-building block materials and even demands related to missiles should also be met, they said.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed India’s readiness to successfully conclude talks with key interlocutors on the comprehensive nuclear test-ban treaty (CTBT), describing it as "an encouraging development".

UNITED NATIONS: Foreign Ministers of five permanent members of the UN Security Council have urged both India and Pakistan to "avoid threatening military movements", cross-border violations or other provocative acts.

In a repetition of their joint communiqué of June 4, the big-five yesterday expressed their continued deep concern about the danger caused by their nuclear tests to peace and security in the region.

They reiterated their pledge to cooperate closely in urgent efforts to prevent a nuclear and missile arms race in the subcontinent and to bolster the global non-proliferation regime. To this end, the foreign ministers called on the two countries to undertake serious discussions to address their bilateral issues and to implement comprehensively and without delay all provisions of the UN Security Council resolution of June 6 which had condemned the nuclear tests and set forth a set of demands that in the view of many observers went far beyond anything the council had done before.

"No trading of Indian interests"
From Hari Jaisingh

NEW YORK, Sept 25 — Is India ready to sign the comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT)? Going by indications available here, a simple and straight answer is yes, but officially there are numerous buts and ifs attached to the whole exercise. There are reasons for India’s cautious approach on this count.

First, the Vajpayee government does not want to give any impression back home of compromising Indian interests under American pressures. Briefing Indian newsmen soon after Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee’s address to the UN Assembly, Mr Jaswant Singh, special envoy of the Prime Minister, said: "India’s vital interests are not being traded in the current efforts to seek a nuclear reconciliation between India and the USA. Second, the Indian dialogue with the US administration has entered a critical stage. Hard bargaining is on. The nature of this bargain is not officially spelt out. Mr Jaswant Singh, however, claims that India’s conditions "are well recognised by the USA". But he is reluctant to elaborate on the plea that this will jeopardise the talks directed at seeking recognition of India’s legitimate rights.

As it stands, nuclear experts of the two countries will meet next month presumably to bridge the "gaps" in Indo-American nuclear perceptions. This will be followed by another round of discussions at the political level between Mr Jaswant Singh and Mr Strobe Talbott, the US Deputy Secretary of State.

Mr Vajpayee has been quite forthright on the nuclear issue. He told reporters on board the aircraft, "we have accepted the basic essence of the CTBT". It may be recalled the treaty bans the test of nuclear weapons worldwide.

In his speech to the UN Assembly, the Prime Minister was equally forthcoming. He declared, "India having harmonised its national imperatives and desirous of continuing to cooperate with the international community is now engaged in discussions with key interlocutors on a range of issues, including the CTBT. We are prepared to bring these discussions to a successful conclusion, so that the entry into force of the CTBT is not delayed beyond September 1999. We expect that other countries, as indicated in Article XIV of the CTBT, will adhere to this treaty without conditions".

The UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, has hailed Mr Vajpayee’s remarks as "positive". He was equally positive about Mr Sharif’s remarks on the CTBT.

Interestingly, Islamabad would like to monitor the concessions that India might be able to extract from the USA before signing the treaty. Mr Nawaz Sharif has already made it clear that Pakistan will insist on the principle of equal treatment with India, be it in terms of status or any kind of incentives.

Be that as it may, India’s objectives and targets on the CTBT and the larger question of nuclear disarmament are clear.

First, New Delhi hopes to extract some concessions from Washington on the easing of the US technology blockade. The Vajpayee government wants the USA to share its nuclear technology so that nuclear explosions can be avoided. Washington has already done so in the case of China by sharing its simulation technology. The US response seems positive on this count.

Second, India wants the nuclear powers (P-5) to accept this country as a nuclear weapons power with equal benefits in every respect. Mr Vajpayee has, however, denied that India is seeking such a conferment from others. He maintains that India is a nuclear weapon state and that the status of a nuclear power is not "a gift" that is conferred by others on India.

Third, New Delhi has sought specific steps on nuclear disarmament, with a specific international commitment "for the abolition of nuclear weapons within a reasonable timeframe".

Fourth, India also seeks simultaneous lifting of economic sanctions. The Clinton Administration is, however, reluctant to link the lifting of sanctions with the signing of the CTBT, at least publicly.

Apparently, a total package of understanding still remains to be evolved. The next few weeks will be decisive in shaping American response to Indian demands and sensitivities. Meanwhile, there is appreciation in diplomatic circles here for India’s pragmatic approach to the CTBT question.

India "to take own decision"

NEW YORK, Sept 25 (PTI) — Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has made it clear to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan that India will take its own decision on the question of adhering to the comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT) irrespective of views of any other country.

Mr Vajpayee, who held wide-ranging discussions with the UN chief yesterday, said as indicated in his address to the United Nations General Assembly, India was prepared to move forward on the CTBT but "certain issues require further discussion".

Briefing reporters here, Indian Ambassador to UN Kamlesh Sharma said Mr Vajpayee assured Mr Annan that the time of the CTBT coming into operation in September next year "is very much on our mind".

Discounting alarmist reports on increasing tension in the region, Mr Vajpayee in an apparent reference to Mr Annan’s remarks on Kashmir, said "this is not the case".

Mr Annan, in his report, had spoken about "rising tension" in Jammu and Kashmir and sought to equate the issue with the stalemated peace process in Cyprus.

Mr Vajpayee said military commanders of both India and Pakistan had been drawn into picture regarding shelling across the Line of Control (LoC) and told to ensure that it cease immediately.