Tracking Number: 460425
Title: "Bhutto Calls for Regional Security Conference." Pakistan's Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is calling for a South Asian security conference to address Kashmir, nuclear
weapons, and other related issues. (961003)
Author: AITA, JUDY (USIA STAFF WRITER)
Date: 19961003
Text:
*NEA407
10/03/96 BHUTTO CALLS FOR REGIONAL SECURITY CONFERENCE (Also wants U.N. organized plebiscite in Kashmir) (600) By Judy Aita USIA United Nations Correspondent
United Nations -- Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto October 3 called for the convening of a South Asia security conference that would deal with, among other things, Kashmir and the nuclear arms issue.
Asking the General Assembly to endorse a conference for peace and security in South Asia, the prime minister said that not only Pakistan and India should participate in such an endeavor, but also the five permanent members of the Security Council (China, France, Great Britain, Russia, and the United States) and other major powers such as Germany and Japan.
A South Asia security conference would cover the Kashmir dispute and other India-Pakistan bilateral problems; the promotion of conventional arms control and confidence-building measures, and the promotion of measures to encourage nuclear restraint and prevent a nuclear arms race in South Asia, she said in a speech to the opening of the 51st assembly.
The prime minister pointed out that Kashmir is the core issue that divides Pakistan and Indian and added that "almost all" of the Indian army, which is the third largest in the world, is deployed against her country.
"I believe that such multilateral talks offer a framework for genuine negotiations which can lead to a resolution of disputes, arrest the nuclear threat, and promote prosperity in South Asia," Bhutto said.
Last month India blocked the Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament from sending the text of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) to the assembly for approval and later voted against the treaty text when it was brought to the assembly by Australia and over 120 other nations.
The CTBT was opened for signature on September 24 and 118 countries, including the five nuclear powers, have either signed the treaty or will be doing so in the next several days. India, whose ratification -- along with that of Pakistan and 42 other countries -- is needed before the treaty can go into effect, has vowed never to sign.
"Now the world can clearly see the reality" of India's policies, Bhutto said.
"Let me state that just as we are prepared to sign any and all nuclear treaties if India simultaneously signs with us, any step of nuclear escalation by our neighbor will find a response from us to preserve our national security," she said.
Saying that there is no statute of limitations on U.N. Security Council resolutions, Bhutto also called for a plebiscite in Kashmir.
"Occupation and repression and annexation cannot nullify the actions of the Security Council itself. Statutes of this body cannot be selectively applied only when politically expedient," Bhutto said.
Bhutto, as the leader of the second largest Muslim country in the world, also cautioned against attributing acts of terrorism to the followers of Islam.
"This is wrong," she said. "There is no place in Islam for acts of terrorism."
Acknowledging the rise of extremists in both the East and West, Bhutto said that "whether it is the rise of Hindu fundamentalism, Islamic militancy, Judaic extremism, Le Pen's racism in France, or the Oklahoma bombing in America, a number of youth are turning to acts of violence."
"We who believe in the policies of moderation, accommodation, and tolerance must unite against this new threat in the form of violence and terror," the prime minister said.
International mechanisms and systems to stop terrorists need strengthening "and we must condemn terrorists and extremists with one voice, irrespective of their race, their religion, or their creed," she said.
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