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Heel, Clinton tells India

In a firm tone, US President Bill Clinton today called on India ''to announce that it will conduct no further nuclear tests and will sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty without conditions.''

In a public appearance at the White House, he said he was ''deeply disturbed'' by India's three underground nuclear tests and announced the US decision to impose full sanctions against new delhi as envisaged in the US laws dealing with nuclear proliferation.

Without naming Pakistan, the president asked it not to indulge in nuclear testing as a retaliatory measure. ''I also urge India's neighbours not to follow suit, not to follow down the path of dangerous arms race,'' he added.

Referring to the sanctions, Clinton said, ''As most of you know, our laws have very strong provisions signed in them by me in 1994, in response to nuclear tests by non-nuclear states and I intend to implement them fully.''

He said, ''The action by India not only threatens the stability of the region, it directly challenges the firm international consensus to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.'' Then, he asked India to make a commitment against any future test and unconditionally sign the CTBT.

In his first direct reaction on India's nuclear tests, the president appeared firm and read out from a prepared statement before taking up the agenda of the scheduled programme for which he was there.

Later, he left for Europe to attend the summit of the Group of 8 which is also expected to discuss India's action.

Meanwhile, the Clinton administration has shown the first concrete sign of its disapproval of India's action by asking US Ambassador Richard F Celeste to stay back for consultations instead of returning to New Delhi.

He was in Hawaii attending a meet of US commanders for the Pacific region.

However, unlike some other countries, the US does not appear keen on jeopardising its diplomatic ties with India. On the contrary, it intends to stay engaged with the Vajpayee administration and has no plans to put off President Clinton's visit to New Delhi scheduled for November.

National Security Advisor Sandy Berger yesterday ruled out any change in the president's travel plan. ''We don't plan to change our plans. That is poor grammar, our plans remain unchanged,'' he added.

Replying to questions pertaining to India's nuclear tests, he said it was important for the United States to ''continue our dialogue with both India and Pakistan".

India and the US are the two largest democracies in the world, Berger said, adding, ''There is an enormous amount of common interests that we have. But I think we have a better chance at de-escalating or at least slowing these kinds of actions if we remain engaged than if we don't.''

Asked whether the US was considering sanctions against India in protest against its nuclear tests, Berger said, ''There are laws that pertain to these kinds of matters, some of which do involve sanctions. No determination has been made. We are reviewing those laws to determine what the facts are, what the law is, and whether the law applies to these facts.''

UNI

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