ELECTIONS '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ARCHIVES

Sharief may make 'positive statement' on CTBT at UN

US President Bill Clinton told Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief, during their bilateral talks in New York on Monday, that the United States was willing to help in resolving the Kashmir issue, but reminded the Pakistani leader that India had taken the consistent position that it did not favour outside mediation or outside participation.

Briefing newsmen on the 45-minute meeting between Clinton and Sharief, White House National Security Adviser Sandy Berger said the conversation focussed very much on non-proliferation issues. Sharief indicated that he would have a positive statement to make in respect of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty when he addresses the General Assembly.

Berger said the US was engaged in very intensive discussions with both India and Pakistan on non-proliferation issues, which was important to get back into track after the recent nuclear explosions in the subcontinent. He underlined the importance of adherence to the CTBT by both India and Pakistan.

A State Department spokesman described the Clinton-Sharief talks as 'positive' and said the two leaders talked about Kashmir, non- proliferation and the economic situation in Pakistan.

Pakistani sources said Sharief told President Clinton that Islamabad was not against the CTBT but economic sanctions imposed on Pakistan by the United States were proving counterproductive.

On the Kashmir issue, according to these sources, President Clinton assured Sharief of full support for the dialogue between India and Pakistan.

India-Pakistan relations also figured briefly during the talks President Clinton had with the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday.

Asked by an Indian correspondent why no meeting between President Clinton and the Indian prime minister had been scheduled, Berger said he believed the Indian leader was not arriving in New York until later this week and apart from that, while there was progress in talks with Pakistan on CTBT, there was still some room left for further progress in the Indo-US talks.

Berger said US relations between India and Pakistan were not only about non-proliferation but other fields also as they were important countries. India was the largest democracy in the world and Pakistan, a traditional friend of the US.

One of the reasons why the nuclear testing was such a disappointment to the US president was because it impeded American capacity to have close relations with the two countries. There was need to make good progress on non-proliferation so that ''we could improve our relations,'' he said.

Berger said as Pakistan takes steps along the path of strengthening the non-proliferation regime, the US would be in a stronger position to ease sanctions against that country.

A State Department spokesman indicated that a decision on Clinton's planned visit to the subcontinent would be taken later this week or next week. It depended on the movement of the talks the US had with India and Pakistan.

The US president was assisted in the talks by US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott and Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Karl F Inderfurth. On the Pakistani side were Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz, Commerce Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dhar, Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmed and Pakistan's ambassador to the US, Riaz Khokhar.

Berger dismissed any suggestion that the faith of the international community in the leadership of President Clinton might have eroded because of the sex scandal. On the contrary, he said, the international community recognised the importance of US leadership and the president's own stature and wanted American leadership to continue, particularly at a time when many things were happening in the world which created great uncertainty.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report