Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
US not negotiating secret deal with India on CTBT, spurns assertion US supporting India get UNSC seat
ISLAMABAD, Jan 23 (APP):
Pakistan Saturday said that US Assistant Secretary of State Karl Inderfurth had confirmed in his talks in Islamabad that Washington was not negotiating "any secret deal" with New Delhi in exchange for its signature on CTBT. A Foreign Office spokesman in a statement said Inderfurth also described the speculation that the United States would support India's efforts to seek permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council as "untrue". "The United States is not negotiating any secret deal with India in exchange for its signature on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty," this was confirmed by the US official in the course of his talks at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday. Referring to Deputy Secretary of State, Strobe Talbott's interview with an Indian journalist published on January 14, 2000, Secretary Inderfurth affirmed that Pakistan, too, can subscribe to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty "without giving up the ability to possess nuclear weapons and have a credible deterrent".
Pakistan too has "the sovereign right to make decisions on what sorts of weapons and force posture are necessary " for its defence. According to the statement, it was further stated by US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott that "there is simply no difference whatsoever between the obligations that the P-5 (Permanent members of the Security Council) would assume under the CTBT and those of any other State". "Mr. Inderfurth confirmed that this statement was applicable to Pakistan as well." The Foreign Office said the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty does not ban sub-critical nuclear tests. "Parties to the Treaty will retain that option even after the Treaty comes into force."
"In brief, rights and obligations under the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty will be applicable equally and without discrimination to all parties," the statement concluded.
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