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Bad boy India won't be allowed in nuclear club, says Uncle Sam

The Clinton administration is ready to take 'full advantage' if the Vajpayee government is in any way willing to accept the international nonproliferation norms.

Testifying on Wednesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Near-Eastern and South Asian Affairs, US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Karl F Inderfurth said India, after conducting its tests, had indicated some willingness about signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and to ''participate'' in a fissile material cutoff negotiation.

''In the post-test environment, we will need to move energetically to strengthen the global nonproliferation regime and to take full advantage of any Indian willingness to move towards acceptance of international nonproliferation norms,'' he said.

The US would intensify its efforts to bring the fissile material cut-off treaty into force as early as possible.

Inderfurth, who recently visited India with US Ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson, said they had been continuously reassured by senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders that India appreciated the American efforts to strengthen ties, and was looking forward to President Bill Clinton's visit.

The American officials had been assured "privately and publicly that India would continue to show restraint in the nonproliferation field and would do nothing to surprise us,'' he said.

''As a direct result of India's decisions and actions, we are now compelled to look again at our approach to India,'' the assistant secretary said, ''We will now need to put much of the co-operative side of our agenda on hold and deal with the consequences of India's actions."

''We must focus anew on seeking a meaningful Indian commitment to cease from further testing, to join the CTBT immediately and without qualifications, and to respect other international nonproliferation norms,'' he said, ''We will need to assess how we will deal with India in accordance with the Glenn amendment and other US laws which require sanctions far more restrictive than those placed upon Pakistan under the Pressler amendment.''

''Looking ahead, we will need to try to engage India on a number of issues aside from the immediate crisis, but I must caution that India's actions have made such engagement far more difficult than would otherwise have been the case,'' Inderfurth observed.

Earlier, state department spokesman James Rubin said the sanctions ordered by President Clinton against India involved ''very stiff penalties.'' Development assistance, military sales and exchanges, trade in dual-use technology and US loans guarantee would be affected.

Rubin said prohibition on loans by US banks to India, on Exim bank and on overseas private investment corporation activities could cost hundreds of millions of dollars, affect projects already approved, and make major US companies and financial institutions rethink about their operations in India.

''Clearly, India has made a grave mistake that will be to its disadvantage for a long, long time to come,'' he said.

Asked whether the US would include India in the nuclear club, Rubin said, ''At this point, I don't think we are interested in any kind of nuclear embrace with India.''

Earlier, during the senate panel hearing on 'Crisis in South Asia: India's nuclear tests', several members suggested giving a multilateral character to the sanctions against India to make them more effective.

Senator Chuck Robb wanted President Clinton to cancel his trip to South Asia, scheduled later in the year.

UNI

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