Tracking Number: 187016
Title: "Pakistani Arms Control Plan 'Constructive', Says US." The US supports the concept of joint consultations among the US, the Soviet Union, China, Pakistan and India on
controlling nuclear proliferation in South Asia. (910614)
Author: GOMEZ, BERTA (USIA STAFF WRITER)
Date: 19910614
Text:
*NEA512
06/14/91 *
PAKISTANI ARMS CONTROL PLAN "CONSTRUCTIVE," SAYS U.S. (U.S. talks cover wide range of issues) (980) By Berta Gomez USIA staff writer
Washington -- The U.S. government supports the concept of joint consultations among the United States, the Soviet Union, China, Pakistan and India on controlling nuclear proliferation in South Asia, the State Department announced June 14.
A statement released by Spokesman Margaret Tutwiler said that meetings here between high-level Pakistani and U.S. officials had dealt with a wide range of issues, including Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's recent proposal to have U.S., Soviet and Chinese officials mediate talks on establishing a nuclear-free zone in South Asia.
The United States found the Sharif proposal "constructive," Tutwiler said.
Led by Senate Chairman Wasim Sajjad, the Pakistani delegation completed this week a round of meetings with a variety of U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Baker, Vice President Quayle, Defense Secretary Cheney and National Security Advisor Scowcroft, as well as with a number of members of Congress.
The Pakistani embassy described the visit as an effort to shore up U.S.-Pakistan relations, which have been "close and friendly" for more than four decades, but which have suffered recently due to Washington's doubts about Islamabad's research in the nuclear field.
U.S. aid to Pakistan was suspended last fall under the provisions of the Pressler Amendment to the foreign aid act, which cuts off assistance unless the president can certify that Pakistan has not developed a nuclear weapon. In October 1990, President Bush told Congress he could no longer provide that certification.
Despite this difficulty, both U.S. and Pakistani officials stressed that maintaining good relations between the two countries is a high priority for both sides, and that their conversations here covered a number of issues on which both countries agree.
Tutwiler's statement emphasized U.S.-Pakistani cooperation during the conflict in Afghanistan, and noted that during the meetings in Washington both sides had "affirmed their
GE 2 nea512 desire for an early political settlement" in that country, "based on self-determination for the Afghan people."
Other areas of agreement included "the need to work together to control illicit narcotics trafficking" and the "impressive" economic reforms recently carried out in Pakistan, Tutwiler said.
Discussions centering on the nuclear issue "were forthright and cordial," Tutwiler said, "reflecting the longstanding friendship between the two countries and the mutual desire to resolve outstanding differences."
Along the same lines, the press attache at the Pakistani embassy, Malik Zahoor Ahmad, emphasized that the delegation hoped to address "the gaps which have appeared in (U.S.- Pakistani) relations" and to "clear certain doubts and misconceptions" about his country.
"We have been long-time friends, and it would be quite bad to lose that friendship," he said.
However, members of the delegation made clear their belief that U.S. concerns about Pakistan's nuclear program are misplaced.
Speaking at a June 12 conference sponsored by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Senate Chairman Sajjad stated emphatically that Pakistan's nuclear program is "completely devoted to peaceful purposes," and described American misgivings as "tragic and ironic."
Although he flatly denied that Pakistan is seeking a resumption of U.S. aid, Sajjad and other delegation members expressed strong opposition to the Pressler amendment on the grounds that it is both unfair and ineffective.
Sajjad called the amendment "discriminatory" and noted that "it is one of the few (U.S.) laws that specifically targets one country." Moreover, "it doesn't address the real object, which is non-proliferation," he added.
The Pakistani legislator pointed out that no such pressure has been applied to India, which exploded a nuclear device in 1974.
He suggested that maintenance of the Pressler restrictions might even damage prospects for regional arms control talks, saying that "clearly, the adoption of an even-handed approach by the United States...would greatly facilitate" the process.
(The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation June 13 which would condition aid to India on nuclear non- proliferation, but the Bush administration opposes the measure and it is given little chance of becoming law.)
GE 3 nea512
Sajjad also underlined Pakistan's long-standing efforts to control nuclear proliferation in the region. "If there is one goal that Pakistan has steadfastly pursued in the years, it is that of an acceptable non-proliferation treaty in South Asia," he said.
Prime Minister Sharif's June 6 proposal for the United States, China and the Soviet Union to mediate non- proliferation talks, Sajjad said, is only the most recent in a series of Pakistani proposals dealing with the issue.
He stressed that most of the proposals -- which date back to the mid-1970's -- were made prior to U.S. adoption of the Pressler restrictions on aid to Pakistan.
Turning to Sharif's most recent proposal, Sajjad expressed cautious optimism about its chances for producing some kind of progress on a nuclear treaty. "Many...sectors in India," he noted, "have pushed for further consideration" of the plan.
He was similarly positive about the future of U.S.- Pakistani relations. Noting that cooperation during the war in Afghanistan had produced "a greater maturity" in that relationship, Sajjad suggested that the success of the recent elections in Pakistan and the reforms undertaken by the Sharif government could pave the way for stronger economic ties.
"The economy is almost entirely de-regulated.... More than 130 public sector enterprises...are being placed on the auction block... Even the construction of highways is being turned over," he said, pointing to changes that will appeal to prospective foreign investors.
The recent elections should also dispel questions about the stability of Pakistan's system of government, he said, describing a return to martial law and military rule as "unlikely."
"The tender plant of democracy," Sajjad emphasized, "has taken strong root in Pakistan." NNNN
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