Official Spokesperson's Statement
Ministry of External Affairs
1. We have taken note of the statement issued by the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs of China on 14
May in Beijing with regard to the nuclear tests conducted by
India on 11 May and 13 May 1998.
2. As is well known, India's relations with our neighbours have
shown marked improvement in
recent years. The trend in South Asia is towards greater regional
cooperation and economic
integration. In this context, accusations that India is seeking
hegemony in South Asia are baseless,
unwarranted and only hinder the process of relaxation of tensions
and promotion of peace and
stability through regional cooperation.
3. India has legitimate security concerns. India cannot but take
into account the offensive nuclear
weapon and missile capability in our region nor the well documented
history of proliferation through
clandestine acquisition, taking place in our neighbourhood. Assistance
from external sources to the
clandestine nuclear weapons and missile development programme
in our immediate neighbourhood
is well known. All this is itself a clear refutation of the allegation
about the Indian tests triggering off a
nuclear arms race in South Asia.
4. China's own record in respect of international opinion in continuing
its programme of nuclear tests
until considered necessary for the purpose of developing its
nuclear weapons, is well known. Over a
period of three decades between 1964 and 1996, China conducted
45 nuclear tests, of which 23
were atmospheric. On 8 June 1996, while announcing that it would
conduct yet another test, China
stated that "In the world today, there still exist huge nuclear
arsenals and the threat of a nuclear war
caused by the first use of nuclear weapons. Against such a background,
for the purpose of the
supreme interests of the state and the nation, China cannot but
conduct the necessary and minimum
number of nuclear tests. We have all along exercised maximum
restraint in conducting nuclear tests
and the number of tests we have conducted is extremely limited."
It is strange that China is not
willing to concede the same logic to India that it applies to
itself. If China with a large nuclear arsenal
built with the experience of over 44 tests felt compelled to
test again in July 96, for its own security,
then it should be possible to understand the rationale for India
conducting a limited number of tests
after a 24 year long period of voluntary restraint.
5. As has been pointed out in our earlier statements, India has
carried out a limited number of tests
in a planned series. These tests do not pose any threat to any
country. India remains committed to
the total elimination of nuclear weapons in a time-bound framework
on a comprehensive, universal
non-discriminatory and verifiable basis. We are willing to consider
being an adherent to some of the
undertakings of CTBT but this cannot be in a vacuum. We remain
open to a dialogue in this regard.
6. India and China are two of the world's largest and most populous
countries. We see our
relationship as one in which the two sides would be responsive
to dialogue to resolve outstanding
differences and to the development of friendly, cooperative,
good neighbourly and mutually
beneficial relationship with China, our largest neighbour.
May 16, 1998
New Delhi |
