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My view on Pak vindicated: Pressler

Senator Larry Pressler, of Pressler Amendment fame, today said the coming visit by President Bill Clinton to India offers prospects for a ''breakthrough'' on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty as the United States is expected to come up with important amendments relating to the contentious issue.

''The treaty (CTBT) may be revised,'' Senator Pressler told reporters after addressing members of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi.

Asked whether the Pressler Amendment should be retained as sought by India, he said that his stand and views on Pakistan had been vindicated. ''I can take pride in the fact and say that I told you so,'' he said maintaining that he had always viewed Pakistan as a military regime whether or not the country was ruled by a civilian or dictator.

If the Pressler Amendment is retained, Pakistan would be denied the crucial spareparts for weapons obtained from the US, experts say adding such a course would enhance India's relations with Washington even in defence matters.

Regretting that India has not really accepted the friendship offer by the US, Senator Pressler said New Delhi ''should take full advantage of President Clinton's visit especially when he is not going to Pakistan or China.'' He said the coup in Pakistan in a way would help India clear the US perception about Islamabad.

Senator Pressler said there was need for a new treaty altogether as, for one thing, India had always perceived it as unfair and also because the nuclear threat in the world is becoming real. He feared that in the next 25 years, someone could drop a nuclear device somewhere in the world. ''It could be used by Pakistan and India could respond or one of the US cities could become a target of nuclear device by terrorists,'' he said. One of the former Soviet states or China could also trigger a nuclear exchange. ''Unfortunately I may see it in my lifetime,'' Pressler remarked.

Predicting that Pakistan is not going to change, he said India had the misfortune of having it as its neighbour. He said the military is well-entrenched in Pakistan and that according to a Central Intelligence Agency report, Pakistan had misled former president George Bush who later brought in the Pressler Amendment. ''President Clinton also believed Ms Benazir Bhutto when she told him that she did not know whether Pakistan had nuclear weapons,'' he added.

He said even while the US foreign policy had remained obsessed with China and Pakistan, both the US and India were at a decisive juncture with the ''fly in the ointment relations'' of the Cold War era behind them. Senator Presseler who is set to visit India's Silicon Valley in Bangalore said the US was getting a vast pool of software solutions from India.

UNI

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