June 05, 1998 - Afternoon Transmission
The five permanent members of the UN Security Council have asked India and Pakistan to have a direct dialogue to reduce tension in South Asia, in a joint statement at the end of their three and a half hour meeting in Geneva last night. They also urged New Delhi and Islamabad to refrain from weaponisaton or deployment of nuclear weapons and adhere to the comprehensive test ban tready immediately and unconditionally. Expressing their deep concern about what they felt, the danger to peace and stability in the region. The five nuclear powers also pledged to cooperate closely in urgent efforts to prevent a nuclear and missile arms race in the sub continent.
The communique also called upon India and Pakistan to increase transparency in their action. It said New Delhi and Islamabad should refrain from testing and deployment of missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons and further production of fissile material for these. The declaration said India and Pakistan do not have the status of nuclear weapon states in accordance with the NPT notwithstanding their recent nuclear tests.
India says that it will closely examine the communique issued by the big five power nations in Geneva. An External Affairs Ministry spokesman said New Delhi will give its response after studying the declaration.
The Prime Minister says, there is no question of India signing the comprehensive test ban treaty, CTBT, in its present form and reiterated New Delhi's desire for global talks on nuclear disarmament. Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee told the Rajya Sabha that the nuclear issue is not a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan but other countries are also involved in it.
The Prime Minister made it clear again that India is ready to hold bilateral talks with Pakistan and if Islamabad wants to raise the Kashmir issue, New Delhi is ready to discuss it.
One of the scientists, who worked on America's first atomic bomb, Mr. Joseph Rotblat has accused the nuclear powers of double standards. Mr. Rotblat, who won the nobel peace prize for his compaigning against the bomb said, the nuclear powers want themselves to keep the arms denying such security to others. He said, such double standards cannot exist in a civilised world.
The Indian Navy has detained 26 foreigners on board two trawlers believed to be carrying weapons, explosives and ammunitions off the Andaman Islands. Delayed reports say acting on a tip off, the navy assisted by the coast guard, detected the trawlers about 360 kilometers east of port blair on saturday afternoon. Sighting the naval units, almost the entire crew of both the trawlers jumpted into the sea after destroying the trawlers. Interrogation of the detained people confirmed that the trawlers were carrying narcotics besides arms, ammunitation and explosives.
China has criticised the U.S. for posing a threat to its security by arming Taiwan with sophisticated arms and technology. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said in Beijing that Washington's decision to sell equipment worth 160 million dollars to Taiwan is a threat to the sovereignty and security of China.
The Prime Minister says, there is no question of India signing the comprehensive test ban treaty, CTBT, in its present form and reiterated New Delhi's desire for global talks on nuclear disarmament. Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee told the Rajya Sabha during question hours that the nuclear issue is not a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan but other countries are also involved in it. He said serious efforts are not being made in the direction of nuclear disarmament and added that a convention can be held in New York or elsewhere. The Prime Minister also informed the members that India is being pressurised to sign the CTBT unconditionally which New Delhi has not accepted. He said India is however willing to enter into negotiations on CTBT. The pressure is mounting on US. India and Pakistan are being told to sign the CTBT immediately and without conditions, we have not agreed. We say we are willing to negotiate but there is no question of agreeing to the CTBT in its present form.
Mr. Vajpayee reiterated that India is ready to hold bilateral talks with Pakistan and if Islamabad wants to raise the Kashmir issue, we are ready to discuss that also. He regretted that Pakistan has not responded to India's proposal given at Dhaka SAARC summit for resolving pending issues bilaterally. Mr. Vajpayee assured the members that India is not in the arms race and its nuclear tests are not directed against their country.
India has declared that it does not seek a confrontation with China. Responding to a query by newsmen, the External Affairs Ministry spokesman said New Delhi seeks a relationship with China with both sides responsive to each other's concerns. Rejecting President Jiang Zamid's statement that India is a threat to Pakistan and China, the spokesman said New Delhi remains committed to a dialogue with Beiging to resolve all outstanding differences and also to develop friendly cooperation. He said India has legitimate security concerns as there are nuclear weapons and missiles in the regions.
Russia has made it clear that it stands for the resolution of the Kashmir issue under the Shimla agreement. Kremlin sources say, the reported three-point plan, put forward by Russian Foreign Minister, Yevgeny Primakov, on the situation arising from the nuclear tests by India and Pakistan, did not even mention Kashmir. The sources said, Moscow is against internationalising any bilateral issue. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Valery Nesteryushkin, while talking to newspersons last night, reaffirmed Moscow's desire to prevent escalation of tension in the Indian sub-continent.
Pakistan is reportedly looking into the set of proposals put forward by India for resumption of bilateral talks. INA telephonic interview to an Indian TV News-Channel, Pakistan Foreign Minister Ghoar Ayub Kahan said, Islamabad will soon seek a clarification from New Delhi on certain points. After that the talks may get a boost, if everything goes smoothly, he added. The set of proposals was made by India when the them Prime Minister, Mr. I. K. Gujral, had met his Pakistani counter part Nawaz Sharif at Dhaka.
India has again ruled out any third party mediation in resolving the Kashmir issue. Responding to query on the Bangladesh Prime Minister's reported offer for mediation, the External Affairs Ministry spokesman said India's position on this issue has been made clear several times earlier. The matter is a bilateral issue and therefore it has to be resolved bilaterally.
A former Japanese Minister has criticised his country's decision to slap economic sanctions against India for conducting nuclear tests. The former Cabinet Affairs Minister, Mr. Seiroku Kajivama, a senior ruling liberal democratic party leader, questioned Japan's decision and expressed surprise at the Government's bling emulation of the United States in imposing sanctions. He said, Tokyo has failed to appreciate India's portest against the five big nuclear power's monopoly on the possession of these weapons. The Former Minister said, Japan should agree with India and demand the five declared nuclear power states to take immediate measures to give up their own nuclear arms.
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