US Congress discusses Indo-Pak nuclear weapons

The nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan has figured during a Congressional hearing on the New START treaty between the United States and Russia.

For the past two days, during hearings on the New START treaty held by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, lawmakers wanted to know from top US officials and experts about other nuclear weapon countries like India and Pakistan and how it can motivate the two countries to reduce their nuclear stockpile.

"I wonder if you might comment on reduction in counter proliferation efforts more generally, that this agreement might have an effect on. I think specifically of India and Pakistan, for instance. To what extent might this agreement have a positive impact on causing other nations to begin to move in this direction," asked Senator Chris Dodd on Tuesday.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton refrained from directly mentioning India and Pakistan in her answer, but did say that the US would soon explore the possibility of having a similar kind of dialogue with China.

"We want to explore beginning conversations with other nuclear nations, starting with China, and see what kind of opportunity for discussion could exist," Clinton said.

Senator Benjamin L Cardin said the India-Pakistan issue is of major concern to all of them and noted that Russia and the US should work together on these issues that are important for the international community, including Iran and North Korea.

On Wednesday, Senator Jim Risch said initially it was only between the US and Russia.

"We had the United States and we had Russia that had nuclear weapons. And we were doing the things that we did, and rightfully so, and it was important that we had the treaty," he said.

"It seems to me, where we now have other countries, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, India, and the other issues out there, it seems to me that a missile defence is more important now than it's ever been," Risch said.

Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said, "The challenge that we face -- India, Pakistan, North Korea, Iran now -- while you succeeded in reducing the nuclearisation of a number of states. And while some other states have chosen to give it up since then. We still have this very significant moment at this point with respect to Iran and what the implications would be for the Gulf, and a number of Arab states."

Testifying before the committee, former secretary of state Jim Baker said if the US and Russia have a good arms control agreement, it will help them in dealing with the problem with Iran in the United Nations Security Council.

"That is extraordinarily important. I mean, Pakistan and India and North Korea and Israel now all have the bomb. And -- and some of them have it in -- in violation of the NPT that they signed. And some of them have it because they were never NPT countries to begin with," Baker said.