May 12, 1998
[EXCERPTS] PRESS BRIEFING BY MIKE MCCURRY
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_____________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release May 12, 1998
PRESS BRIEFING
BY MIKE MCCURRY
The Briefing Room
11:23 A.M. EDT
...............
Q Did the President get a letter, receive a letter
from the Indian Prime Minister?
MR. MCCURRY: I'll have to check on that.
Q In the last 24 hours?
MR. MCCURRY: I'll have to check on that.
Q Can you say anything more about whether he might
change his trip plans to India?
MR. MCCURRY: I think the President is, as he just
indicated, very concerned by the tests that's been conducted by the
government of India. We certainly are going to have to assess that
development as we consider his itinerary.
............
Q Also, on India, the President's statement today, he
was talking about he will follow the law. So that means that the
administration is definitely deciding to impose economic sanctions?
MR. MCCURRY: Under the statute, the imposition of
sanctions is dealt with almost as a certainty. We are examining
exactly what that will mean and what the consequences are. We
certainly are going to want to explore with the government of India
what its intentions are at this point. We're very interested in the
answer to some of the questions posed by the President today, or his
admonition, really, that they immediately join the comprehensive test
ban regime. We'll be quite interested in hearing what responses the
government of India has to that and other questions that we intend to
pose.
Q Haven't you heard -- you haven't heard anything yet
from India?
MR. MCCURRY: I'll check. Eric, Helen had a question of
whether we have gotten a letter from Vajpayee. I'm not aware of
that, but we'll try to find out.
.............
Q Can you tell us, has the President changed his
travel plans to India, and might he change them depending on India's
commitment to stop testing nuclear weapons?
MR. MCCURRY: I think I indicated earlier that we
certainly have to take into account this development as we assess his
future itinerary.
...................
Q These talks with India -- are they going to be
going on? How is that going to be done? Is that going to be done
via the embassy?
MR. MCCURRY: It will be done through appropriate
diplomatic channels. I don't want to speculate at this point --
Q Do you think it's a matter of days before the
decision is made about sanctions, or --
MR. MCCURRY: It's a matter that we are addressing with
some urgency now.
Q Mike, who is talking to Pakistan, and which level
of U.S. government are you having contact with Pakistan?
MR. MCCURRY: We'll have to see -- through the embassy
there and here.
Q Mike, is it possible --
Q Have you filed a formal protest yet, Mike?
MR. MCCURRY: I believe we have communicated that. I'll
have to ask the NSC to follow up exactly the form of the
communication. Obviously, Ambassador Celeste we've recalled for
consultation, so he was not the one who delivered the demarche, but
I'm sure that it has been appropriately communicated.
Q The President -- that's a very strong statement.
MR. MCCURRY: It's a very strong statement and intended
to be communicated to the government of India as a strong statement.
Q He surely would not go to India if we have
sanctions against them.
MR. MCCURRY: I've answered that twice now.
Q Have you recalled the Ambassador for consultation?
MR. MCCURRY: He has been recalled for consultations.
Yes.
Q Where is he now?
MR. MCCURRY: He was en route to New Delhi and has
returned to Washington for consultations.
.............
Q Mike, on India again, is it possible that the
administration will go beyond the congressional mandates and sanction
India further?
MR. MCCURRY: We're looking at the full range of
sanctions that are contained in the act that are law. They are quite
stringent and as Senator Glenn wrote them, he meant them to be quite
stringent, so we are looking at those now and seeing what their
applications are and seeing what the practical effect will be.
Q Celeste was on his way out to India and just did a
U-turn?
MR. MCCURRY: I believe that's correct. I think he had
been here and was headed back at the time of the tests and he turned
around and came back. That's my understanding. That's correct.
Q Mike, currently the level of direct assistance from
the United States is less than $100 million and arguably only about
$40 million.
MR. MCCURRY: The level of direct assistance, that's
correct, but there are a number of implications in the act. If you
look at it carefully, including IFI lending and other issues that I
think would have significant impact on India.
Q But do you think that the reduction of U.S. aid
over the last few years does have an impact on U.S. influence when
things like this occur?
MR. MCCURRY: I think it's not only aid; remember, there
are a full range of assistance programs and support that the
international community renders to India, including lending through
the World Bank, that is suggested in the act as conceivable
responses. We're going to look very carefully at all of that.
Q Mike, is it true that there was no indication at
all to the U.S. government by India that they were going to do this?
MR. MCCURRY: As I said yesterday that we certainly
didn't receive any notification in advance, and the subject of how
much we knew about it is certainly something that we'll be looking at
carefully.
Q Will this be a topic at the G-8 and will you ask
Japan to curtail its aid since it's the biggest donor?
MR. MCCURRY: Very possible that it will be a subject at
the G-8. It wasn't formally on the calendar, but given the
significance of the development, it's conceivable the leaders would
want to address it.
Q There's been a flurry of diplomatic visits to
India; Ambassador Richardson was there and I think Ambassador
Pickering after the election, and the issue of the testing had
already come up when a new government was elected. Was this a topic
of discussion and what response did the Indians give to U.S. concerns
with regard to this?
MR. MCCURRY: Our proliferation concerns generally have
been on the agenda. The disposition of the government of India
towards the Comprehensive Test Ban is one that we've explored
regularly with the government. I can't suggest that that was
specifically a part of Ambassador Richardson's agenda when he was
there, but I know that it has been raised at high levels when we've
exchanged visits with the government of India in the past. Of
course, this is, as you know, a new government. I'm not sure; our
most recent high-level meeting with them was probably Ambassador
Richardson's. I just don't know whether it came up in the context of
his meeting.
Q Mike, what did you mean when you said "the subject
of how much we knew is something that we'll be looking at carefully"?
Do you think there might have been some intelligence on this that
didn't get communicated?
MR. MCCURRY: I think it's safe to say that given the
significance of the event, we'll go back and look and see how much we
knew and how we knew it.
..................
Q Mike, you said that -- dealt with almost as a
certainty. Is there any possibility that India could make some of
the commitments that you suggested and then avoid sanctions?
MR. MCCURRY: It would be very important to hear from
the government of India what they would want to do to address the
concern that's now been expressed by the international community.
Whether or not Congress would take that into account as it considers
the avenues that are available would remain to be seen, depending on
the level of commitment made by the government of India.
..................
Q Have there been any new troop movements noticed by
either India or Pakistan? Is the situation calm?
MR. MCCURRY: I haven't checked our assessment of that.
Q It sounds like India was very successful in being
able to cover up against our satellites and so forth versus previous
occasions. I'm not putting it well, but --
MR. MCCURRY: That would appear to be the case, but as
you know, that's not a matter I can discuss here.
Okay, we'll see you all when we return from Europe,
those of you not going, and happy journeys to those of you who are.
Q Don't forget to write.
THE PRESS: Thank you.
END 11:36 A.M. EDT
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