India will not sign CTBT in present form: Gujral

Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral on Friday asserted that India would not be persuaded, much less pressurised, to sign the Comprehensive (Nuclear) Test Ban Treaty in its present form.

Gujral said he had clarified India’s objections to the CTBT in the United Nations General Assembly and elsewhere.

Asked to comment on US Assistant Secretary of State Karl Inderfurth’s reported remarks that the US has opened dialogue with India on the issue, he said, ''We have made it clear. We will not sign it.'' Gujral said Inderfurth's statement has triggered speculation that India could somehow be persuaded to go along with the US and other CTBT proponents.

The prime minister returned to India on Friday morning from a nine-day three-nation tour.

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