ASIAN NEWS INTERNATIONAL
INDIA REJECTS PRESSURES OVER SIGNING CTBT.
By Sanjiv Prakash
Jakarta, July 24 (ANI)
India today rejected all pressures to sign the nuclear test ban treaty (CTBT) in its current draft form.
This was made clear by foreign minister Inder Kumar Gujral at the opening session of the post-ministerial conference of ASEAN states plus ten others. "India will support a comprehensive and genuine test ban treaty that will not only outlaw nuclear weapons testing but also outlaw non-explosive techniques for the refinement of nuclear weapons," he said.
Gujral spoke firmly and strongly on India's resolve to follow its path of safeguarding national interest. He confirmed that the "CTBT must not be about horizontal nuclear proliferation but also about halting vertical proliferation". This, he said. Had been the Indian position not only at he Geneva talks on disarmament but also historically "since the time of Jawaharlal Nehru".
Speaking at the ASEAN pot-ministerial conference for the first time, the Indian foreign minister made it clear that "when negotiations resume in Geneva on July 29 we hope that they will lead to a CTBT that is able to receive the support of all states" and not just a handful of western nations.
Gujral assured the ASEAN region leadership that India's position on the CTBT will lead to a "stable,
prpredictable and balanced political and Security order in the Asia pacific region. Being of the
region, and yet with no history of involvement in the conflicts of the region, we can be and we have
every intention of being constructive and stabilizing factor for peace".
