May 1998 Edition
Excerpts from Indian Foreign Office Statements
Official statements once again emphasized that the nuclear tests were not directed against any country and were meant to provide a ``credible option'' to counter the geostrategic threats in the region.
``It is because of the continuing threat posed to India by the deployment, overtly or covertly, of nuclear weapons in the lands and seas adjoining us that we have been forced to carry out these tests,'' the Foreign Office today said. South Block's observations were triggered by the statement adopted by the Security council "strongly deploring'' India's five nuclear tests. Taking exception to the Security Council's position, the Foreign Office statement said it was "surprised that the Council had not taken cognizance of the many hundreds of nuclear tests carried out over the last 50 years.''
Tests by themselves, and the ``reconfirmation of a capacity which had been demonstrated in 1974, do not jeopardize peace and stability'', the Foreign Office said.
The refusal by the nuclear weapon-haves to go in for universal disarmament after the cold war had triggered the re-evaluation in New Delhi's nuclear stance. "At the end of the cold war, when the world expected the nuclear weapon powers to move towards nuclear disarmament since the stated reasons for their retention of nuclear arsenal had been removed, they have started to alter their nuclear doctrines to justify the possible use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states.''
The statement said the ``nuclear weapon states have completely set their face against the overwhelming wish of the international community and increasingly significant sections of their own domestic strategic and military opinion for meaningful progress on nuclear disarmament.'' The nuclear weapon states posed the ``single biggest threat to international peace and security and had adopted every ploy possible to deflect attention from their policies.''
India's track record as a ``responsible member of the international community'' showed that it had championed the cause of nuclear disarmament. ``We were among the first to propose, and continue to promote, the goal of general and complete disarmament, and the elimination of all nuclear weapons,'' the statement said, citing India's initiatives in proposing a non-discriminatory Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
``The NPT, which also India proposed , became a completely discriminatory treaty, legitimizing the possession in eternity of nuclear weapon by the nuclear weapon states.''
In this light the statement adopted by the Security Council is ``completely unacceptable''.
On China's Reaction
Reacting to the Chinese Foreign Office's accusatory statement on nuclear tests, India today disagreed with the charge that it sought hegemony in South Asia or that its action would entail serious consequences to the peace and security in the region and the world at large.
Dealing with Beijing's censure of Indian tests, the spokesman referred to China's record in relation to international opinion, especially its action in continuing its programme of nuclear tests until considered necessary for the purpose of developing its nuclear weapons. In three decades between 1964 and 1996, China, he said, conducted 45 tests, of which 23 were atmospheric. The statement quoted the Chinese justification in June 1996 that "in the world today, there still exist huge nuclear arsenals and the threat of a nuclear war caused by the first use of nuclear weapons. Against such a background, for the purpose of the supreme interests of the state and the nation, China cannot but conduct the necessary and minimum number of nuclear tests. We have all along exercised maximum restraint in conducting nuclear tests and the number of tests we have conducted is extremely limited.''
The Indian statement, expressed disappointment that China was not willing to concede the same logic to India that it applied to itself. If China, with a large nuclear arsenal built with the experience of over 44 tests, felt compelled, it was pointed out, to test again in July 1996 for its security, it should be possible to understand the rationale of India's action in conducting a limited number of tests after 24-year-long voluntary restraint.
A limited number of tests by India in a planned series did not pose a threat to any country, the statement said. It reiterated India's commitment to total elimination of nuclear weapons in a time-bound framework, as also the offer to consider adherence to some of the undertakings of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. "But this cannot be done in a vacuum. We remain open to dialogue in this regard.''
Plea for Friendly Cooperation
The spokesperson concluded with the plea that the two countries be responsive to each other's concerns, and reaffirmed the resolve to sort out outstanding differences through dialogue and to develop a friendly, cooperative, mutually beneficial relationship with China.
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