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No question of recognising India, Pak as N-weapons states, says Talbott

In a public display of the tough US stance on the nuclear issue, Deputy Secretary Strobe Talbott has declared, ''We do not, and will not, concede, even by implication, that India and Pakistan have established themselves as nuclear-weapons state under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.''

''Unless and until they disavow nuclear weapons and accept safeguards on all their nuclear activities, they will continue to forfeit the full recognition and benefits that accrue to members in good standing of the NPT,'' said Talbott, who is scheduled to have the next round of high-level talks on the nuclear issue with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's special envoy Jaswant Singh in Rome on November 19.

Speaking on 'Us Diplomacy in South Asia', at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think-tank, he said, ''This is a crucial and immutable guideline for our policy, not least because otherwise, we would break faith with the states that foreswore a capability they could have acquired -- and we would inadvertently provide an incentive for any country to blast its way into the ranks of the nuclear weapons states.''

While universal NPT adherence remained a long-term US goal, Talbott said, ''We are not simply going to give India and Pakistan the cold shoulder until they take that step.''

Talbott said there had been some progress with regard to the CTBT. Both countries had declared voluntary moratoriums on further testing and at the UN, their prime ministers had pointed their governments towards CTBT adherence within a year.

''We hope that India and Pakistan will take that step as soon as possible and we applaud the work that the prime ministers have done in their respective countries to build public support for an agreement that has long been demonised but that now, in the wake of the tests in May, represents an opportunity to stabilise the region,'' he added.

He said: ''We are urging India and Pakistan to halt all production of fissile material, which constitutes the essential building block of nuclear weapons. On this point, too, there have been some encouraging developments.''

''The agreement earlier this year of India and Pakistan to join talks at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva on a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty allowed those long-stalled discussions to go forward. This agreement could be an important milestone in promoting international acceptance of a key principle of nuclear arms control,'' Talbott added.

''But even if, as we hope, those negotiations go well and move forward quickly, completion and formal entry into force of a cutoff treaty is still several years away. To prevent accumulation of fissile material during that time, we urge India and Pakistan to join the other nations that have conducted nuclear test explosions in announcing that they will refrain from producing fissile material for nuclear weapons, pending conclusion of a treaty,'' Talbott said.

He said: ''The third key objective of our discussions with the Indians and the Pakistanis involves limitations on the development and deployment of missiles and aircraft capable of carrying weapons of mass destruction. The point here is that the testing of explosive devices is not the only threat to peace. Unless both India and Pakistan exercise genuine restraint and great care, the delivery systems themselves could become a source of tension and could, by their nature and disposition, increase the incentive to attack first in a crisis.''

''We have urged India and Pakistan to consider strategic restraint measures -- a package of prudent constraints on the development, flight testing and storage of missiles and also on the basing of nuclear-capable aircraft.''

Earlier, Talbott denied that the US had unilaterally reacted to the ''challenge posed by India-Pakistan nuclear tests''. ''From the outset we have been working in concert with many other countries,'' he added.

He defended the one-time exception the US had made in lifting sanctions, allowing the International Monetary Fund to help Pakistan meet its foreign exchange crisis.

UNI

ALSO SEE: US clarifies goals of dialogue with India

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