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HVK Archives: Adherence to CTBT only as N power: PM

Adherence to CTBT only as N power: PM - The Observer

Sujit Chakraborty ()
September 24, 1998

Title: Adherence to CTBT only as N power: PM
Author: Sujit Chakraborty
Publication: The Observer
Date: September 24, 1998

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Wednesday said that India
would sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) only after
some of India's "conditions" were fulfilled and after another
round of talks between the interlocutors of India and the US
Jaswant Singh and Strobe Talbott.

"We will adhere to the treaty as a nuclear weapon state if other
conditions are met," Mr Vajpayee said.

The Prime Minister was speaking to newsmen accompanying him on
board Air India's special aircraft 'Harshvardhan' while on his
way to New York to attend the UN general assembly session.

On the Indo-Pak bilateral talks, he revealed that both countries
had finalised the modalities for resumption of the stalled
bilateral dialogue on all outstanding issues, including Jammu
and Kashmir.

The Prime Minister also stoutly defended the Centre's
recommendation for the dismissal of the Rabri Devi Government in
Bihar saying that "mafia raj" was prevailing there and expressed
confidence that the BJP's allies would extend support to the
Union Cabinet's decision.

When asked whether India was close to signing the CTBT, Mr
Vajpayee said, "Talks are still going on." He made it clear that
India was in no hurry to sign the treaty without getting
adequate assurances. He, however, did not spell out the nature
of the assurances nor the conditionalites that India had put
forward.

He said that India's announcement that it would not undertake
further nuclear tests was enough to show that the country had
abided by the basic and important conditions for adhering to the
treaty but "still there are some questions which have to be
resolved."

According to Mr Vajpayee, though there were reservations on some
provisions of the CTBT, it could not be amended now as a
majority of nations, including a number of non-aligned
countries, had already accepted it.

He said that had India adhered to the treaty earlier, it would
have prevented it from undertaking the Pokhran tests. "Now that
we have carried out the tests, this constraint is not there," he
added.

The Prime Minister said that Indian scientists, too, felt that
Delhi had acquired sufficient data and there was no need for
further underground tests.

Asked whether India was seeking recognition as a nuclear weapon
power, he asserted, "We are a nuclear power state. It is not a
gift from anyone."

He emphasised that more important than CTBT was the need for the
international nuclear regime to stop proliferation of nuclear
weapons. "We want a nuclear weapon-free world and elimination of
nuclear weapons within a definite time-frame." he stressed.

Mr Vajpayee's remarks came as his special emissary Jaswant Singh
held the fifth round of talks with US Deputy Secretary of State
Strobe Talbott in Washington on Tuesday. However, no details
were available except that the two leaders would meet again in
November at a mutually convenient venue.

On Pakistan, Mr Vajpayee, who holds a crucial luncheon meeting
with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in New York on
Wednesday, said that the two leaders would direct their
officials to restart parleys on all outstanding issues,
including peace and security and Jammu and Kashmir.

Foreign secretary level talks between New Delhi and Islamabad
had broken down last September following Islamabad's insistence
on first discussing the "core" Kashmir issue.

Recently, officials from both sides have indicated that a major
breakthrough was on the cards unless there were last minute
hiccups.

The groundwork for the New York meeting of the two leaders was
prepared by Foreign Secretary K Raghunath and his Pakistani
counterpart, Shamshad Ahmed, when they met on the fringes of the
NAM summit in Durban earlier this month.

Their proposals would be considered by the two Prime Ministers
before announcing the schedule for resumption of the dialogue
process, officials said.

The Prime Minister said that concerted efforts by Pakistan to
internationalise the Kashmir issue had failed with most
countries supporting India's stand that it was a bilateral issue
to be settled by the two countries.

Islamabad's bid to link non-proliferation with Kashmir had also
come unstuck, he added.

Asked why US President Bill Clinton had chosen to meet Mr Sharif
but not trim, Mr Vajpayee said, "This is not a bilateral visit."
Mr Clinton left New York a day before his arrival for the UN
session.

Mr Vajpayee, who will address the session on Wednesday, is
expected to put forth India's claim for a permanent membership
of an expanded UN security council.

Meanwhile, regarding the situation in Bihar, the PM said "there
is mafia raj prevailing in Bihar" and added that tension was
riding high in the State, which made the Centre's decision "most
justified."


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