03 June 1998
EXPERTS AGREE FURTHER NUCLEAR TESTS SHOULD STOP ON SUBCONTINENT
(UN's Perm 5 can help the situation) (560) By William B. Reinckens USIA Staff Writer Washington -- A panel of South Asian and arms control analysts convened by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) June 3 agreed on the need for a "cooling-off period" between India and Pakistan and expressed hope that the five permanent members of the United Nations, who are meeting tomorrow in Geneva, will be able to make progress in that direction. "The Perm 5 can use their particular diplomatic advantages to pursue a common objective," said Dr. Gary Samore, Special Assistant to the President and National Security Council Director for Nonproliferation. The United States, Russia and China each have special influence in South Asia. Working in concert, they should give the international community a better chance to find ways to reduce tensions between India and Pakistan. The Geneva meeting is likely to focus on efforts to induce India and Pakistan to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). "This would be a very effective first step," Samore said. "The need is to reinforce the perception that India and Pakistan will suffer a net loss" in the eyes of the international community if both countries continue further testing, he said. "It will tarnish their image and put them in the International doghouse." Samore also noted that economic sanctions imposed by the United States and Japan -- which supplies 40 percent of the subcontinent's aid -- are having an effect. "We have entered into a new era in the discussion about nuclear matters," said Kurt Campbell, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, whose office deals with proliferation issues. "In the Asian context, this comes at a very difficult time," he noted, referring to Asia's financial crisis and the change of government in Indonesia. He said the India-Pakistan nuclear proliferation issue would likely be an agenda item when President Clinton and the leaders of China meet later this month. Campbell also said that for diplomacy to work in the Indo-Pakistan nuclear context, it has to be worked out through coalition building and that a unilateral approach would not work. The situation between India and Pakistan also drew the attention of U.S. Senator Charles S. Robb, who is the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs. "Congress can help by giving President (Clinton) the flexibility he needs in responding to the crisis at hand," he said. However, Robb also said that "over the longer term, I believe a series of confidence building measures, designed to restore a semblance of order and stability in the region, ought to be aggressively pursued by the (Clinton) administration to stem the tide of growing discord between India and Pakistan." Neither country is "losing any points" with their people over nuclear testing, William Clark, former U.S. ambassador to India, said, noting the exuberance with which Indian and Pakistani citizens have expressed support for their governments. Clark added that both countries seem to want to "blast their way into the nuclear club," a reference to the five nuclear powers recognized by the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty. Indeed, as noted arms control scholar Michael Krepon said, "there are new rules in the process of formation."
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