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Vajpayee calls for global conference on disarmament

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today called for global denuclearisation and deplored the attempts by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to turn a blind eye to the goal of total elimination of nuclear weapons.

Intervening in the Rajya Sabha during question hour, the prime minister said India was ready to participate in such an effort but there should be a global move towards nuclear disarmament.

He mooted the idea of an international conference on nuclear disarmament, saying the issue was not confined to India and Pakistan alone.

The prime minister said the international conference could be held either in New York or elsewhere, and India is all for it.

While reiterating that India would not accept the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in the present form which was discriminatory against non-nuclear states, he said India was ready to talk with nuclear powers on the issue if they talked of total nuclear disarmament.

Vajpayee admitted that there had been pressure on India and Pakistan by many countries to sign CTBT and the Non-Proliferation Treaty without any conditions, but there was no change in the country s stand in regard to CTBT.

He also categorically stated that there was no tension between India and Pakistan in the wake of nuclear tests by the two countries.

''Where is the tension? There is all peace,'' the prime minister said, intervening during question hour.

The prime minister said nuclear tests were also conducted by France and China, and there had been no tension between them. ''How can there be tension between Pakistan and India if they conducted tests for peaceful purposes,'' he asked.

Vajpayee said India was ready to have bilateral talks with Pakistan, even on the Kashmir issue. But till now it had not got any formal proposal from Pakistan.

In another reply, he said India wanted to have good and peaceful relations with all neighbouring countries. ''This has been our policy and remains our policy,'' he added.

Earlier, Minister of State for External Affairs Vasundhara Raje said in a written reply that the government was closely monitoring all developments relating to research, development and acquisition of armaments by Pakistan. ''The government remains fully committed to taking all necessary steps to effectively safeguard India's security and national interests in accordance with its own threat perceptions,'' she added.

UNI

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