His Excellency Atal Bihari Fajbai
Prime Minister of India
New Delhi.
Peace be upon you,
I have received your letter on the nuclear tests conducted by
India.
On this occasion, I would like to tell you that the international
community at large has been, unfortunately, dominated by double standards
policy. The main party responsible for this is, in general, the great powers
whether through their bad example or by intimidation of others, exercised
by some of them, through threats and the occasional use of force. Since
we are committed, pursuant to our principles, to tell the truth whether
on our side or on the side of others, and to objectively differentiate
between right and wrong in accordance with objective standards, we see
no justification for the campaign launched against India by the concerned
parties and think that India has acted pursuant to the right of sovereignty.
If it is wanted that the world be free from mass destruction weapons, which we support and call for, this motto should be applied to all with no exemption. As regards the policy of opportunity and capability, that is, the opportunity of each state should be based on its capability regardless of legitimate and illegitimate standards and the rights of others, it is a policy pursued by some great powers, particularly America and Britain which have extorted opportunities for themselves at the expense of others and according to calculations that do not take into consideration the interests of others and the rules of international law. This is one of the parameters of their policies, which we reject and resist whatsoever.
Iraq has suffered from this unjust policy. Resolution 687 adopted by the Security Council has provided for the destruction of Iraq's nuclear capabilities which are devoted for peaceful purposes. This has been fully implemented. However, paragraph 14 of that resolution, which calls for establishing in the Middle East a zone free from mass destruction weapons, has not been implemented. Throughout the past seven years, the Security Council has not taken any action towards the implementation of that paragraph despite our continuous requests and those of other Arab states, including Egypt. The reason for that is the American position which encourages only Israel, in the region, to acquire nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction so that it be always capable to threaten Arab countries.
This is our position on the question you raised in your letter. The most important at present, in our view, as friends of India, particularly after the similar nuclear tests conducted by Pakistan, is that the practice of this right by India and Pakistan should not lead to tension escalation in the relations amongst India, China and Pakistan, since the two latter states are, like India, friends of Iraq and the Arabs at large, and to the possible exploitation of this situation by other parties with a view to moving the three countries towards tense and hostile positions.
We are fully aware that the officials of India, China and Pakistan are wise enough to ensure us of the possibility of averting any complexities that may weaken the three parties or to distort their relations which we hope to be always at their best so that they can play a role in world peace and stability. God willing.
Accept, Mr. Prime Minister, the assurances of my highest consideration.
(Signed)
Saddam Hussein
President of Republic of Iraqi
Baghdad, June 6, 1998
His Excellency Mohammed Nawaz Sharif,
Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Islamabad
Peace be upon you,
I have received your letter on the nuclear tests conducted by India and you call for an emergency session of the IOC Foreign Ministers. We have also noticed, with interest, Pakistan's decision to conduct nuclear tests.
On this occasion, I would like to tell you that we are committed, pursuant to our principles, to tell the truth whether on our side or on the side of others, and to objectively differentiate between right and wrong in accordance with objective standards. Accordingly, we think that both India and Pakistan have acted pursuant to the right of sovereignty.
If it is wanted that the world be free from mass destruction weapons, which we support and call for, this motto should be applied to all with no exemption. As regards the policy opportunity and capability, that is the opportunity of each state should be based on its capability regardless of legitimate and illegitimate standards and the rights of others, it is a policy pursued by some great powers, particularly America and Britain which have extorted opportunities for themselves at the expense of others and according to calculations that do not take into consideration the interests of others and the rules of international law. This is one of the parameters of their policies, which we reject and resist whatsoever.
Iraq has suffered from this unjust policy. Resolution 687 adopted by the Security Council has provided for the destruction of Iraq's nuclear capabilities which are devoted for peaceful purposes. This has been fully implemented. However, paragraph 14 of that resolution, which calls of that resolution, which calls for establishing in the Middle East a zone free from mass destruction weapons, has not been implemented. Throughout the past seven years, the Security Council has not taken any action towards the implementation of that paragraph despite our continuous requests and those of other Arab states, including Egypt. The reason for that is the American position which encourages only Israel, in the region, to acquire nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction so that it be always capable to threaten Arab countries.
We, as friends of Pakistan and India, remind you of the keenness to keep Pakistan-India relations way from the attempts of those who try to down them into a tense atmosphere that may lead to explosion. The same is true regarding the relations between India and China. With the exemption of the aforementioned, everyone has the right, according to his capabilities and strategy, to acquire the weapons which others are allowed to acquire, and to deal with science in a manner that does not cause injury to man. We know that the main purpose of the much noise made by some great powers about the Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests, is not what is declared. But, as some of those powers, particularly America and Britain seek to be the only great powers in the world with a view to steering and blackmailing it, they oppose the multi-polar policy. Since the nuclear weapons and capabilities have, unfortunately, become part a part of the states' weigh, not only in their endeavors towards the good, but to achieve their objectives regardless of their legitimacy, the Americans, followed by the British, have found that it is in their interest to make such a noise irrespective of the world-wide deploration of their double standards policies.
However, we think, regardless of the details, that is unwise to bring the relations between India and Pakistan to the brink of tension and explosion. Although Pakistan and its people are our brothers according to the ties of true Islam and its religious necessities, India is also a friend of the Arabs and has taken during the past decades a clear position towards their issues. This necessitates to be keen on maintaining the relations with India and to solve any problem with it peacefully. This is what we, in Iraq, call for and think that dragging any party to move the Pakistan-Indian relations into collision is a hurtful action to Moslems, the Arabs and humanity as a whole.
This is our position on the question you raised in your letter. The most important at present, in our view, as friends of Pakistan, particularly after the similar nuclear tests it conducted and the achievement of strategic balance with India, is that the practice of this right by Pakistan and India, and in the Indian-Chinese relations, since the two latter states are, like Pakistan, friends of Iraq and the Arabs at large, and to the possible exploitation of this situation by other parties with a view to moving the three countries towards tense and hostile positions.
We are fully aware that the officials of Pakistan, India and China are wise enough to ensure us of the possibility of averting any complexities that may weaken the three parties or to distort their relations which we hope to be always at their best so that they can play a role in world peace and stability. God willing.
Accept, Mr. Prime Minister, the assurances of my highest consideration.
(Signed)
Saddam Hussein
President of the Republic of Iraq.
Baghdad, June 6, 1998
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