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Vajpayee offers to freeze disputes with Pakistan

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today offered to ''freeze'' contentious issues with Pakistan and said the two neighbours should concentrate on other areas to normalise relations.

In an obvious reference to Kashmir, the prime minister said the same approach was being adopted vis-a-vis China and it was giving results.

The prime minister made the offer in the Lok Sabha during his hour-long reply to a discussion on recent developments affecting India's foreign policy and on the statement made by him on his recent visit to Colombo in connection with the SAARC summit.

On the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the prime minister said national interest would be supreme while taking any decision on signing it and the House would be taken into confidence.

He said India remained committed to dialogue to arrive at a decision regarding adherence to the CTBT.

''In 1996, we stayed out of CTBT principally with national security as our only guide and that remains entirely unaltered,'' the prime minister said.

After concluding the series of nuclear tests on May 13, India immediately announced a voluntary moratorium on further underground nuclear test explosions, Vajpayee said.

In announcing this moratorium, India accepted the basic obligation of a test ban. In 1963 too, when India had wanted a comprehensive test ban treaty, what the international community concluded instead was only a Partial Test Ban Treaty. Eventually India went along and became an original state party to the PTBT.

That decision was taken in the broader national interest, he said.

He pointed out that India first proposed a ban on testing in 1954, and as a country remains committed to global nuclear disarmament, could hardly have acted otherwise.

In announcing the moratorium, ''we reflected our own commitment to disarmament as also addressed the general wish of the international community,'' he said.

Naturally, India reserves the right to review this decision if in its judgement, extraordinary events take place that jeopardise India's supreme national interest, Vajpayee asserted.

The CTBT also gives the same right to every country, he pointed out.

"Then also we announced our willingness to move towards a de jure formalisation of our voluntary undertaking. Ways and means of doing this are being explored through bilateral discussions with key interlocutors.

''These dialogues have been undertaken after satisfying ourselves that India no longer requires to undertake nuclear explosions.

''We can maintain the credibility of our nuclear deterrent in the future without testing. India remains committed to this dialogue with a view to arriving at a decision regarding adherence to the CTBT. In 1996, we stayed out of the CTBT principally with national security as our only guide. That remains unaltered.''

At the outset, the prime minister noted that there was a national consensus as far as foreign policy was concerned.

He noted that there was a consensus on the nuclear policy also, and rejected the allegation that this consensus had been fractured.

He said the insinuation that India had exploded nuclear devices to ensure a permanent seat on the UN Security Council was laughable, and asserted that a permanent seat on the council was India's natural right. He put a poser, ''Should a permanent seat in the Security Council depend on somebody's charity and should it not be done in a democratic way.''

He also said there was no conflict whatsoever between economic prosperity and national security. He said it was the government's endeavour that economic prosperity and national security go hand in hand.

''We cannot ignore national security as 50 years of history is behind us. We have had to face aggression many times, lose large tracts of land and we are trying to recover it through peaceful and bilateral means.''

The prime minister said to ward off such a threat in the Future, judicious use of available resources was being resorted to ensure both economic prosperity and national security.

He said it was ridiculous to link tomato prices with the Pokhran nuclear explosions. There is no link whatsoever, he said.

He recalled that a nuclear device had been exploded even during Indira Gandhi's time.

''We waited for 24 years to see the end of nuclear weapons and a nuclear weapons free world,'' he said. But the efforts for total nuclear disarmament did not meet with success.

He noted that after the Pokhran tests, the nuclear weapon states were under pressure to take steps towards total nuclear disarmament.

He also forcefully rebutted the charge that in the wake of nuclear tests, India had been isolated. ''Who can neglect and ignore a nation of 1,000 million?'' he asked.

He said the importance India was given at Manila, SAARC and the Non-Aligned Movement conference and the constructive and meaningful talks held by India were a clear pointer to the fact that India had not been isolated.

The NAM rejected a proposal to criticise India for its nuclear tests, he said.

Are all these developments pointers to India being isolated, he said.

In an obvious reference to Pakistan, the prime minister said those who wanted India to be isolated at the SAARC summit got isolated themselves.

He said SAARC was a forum for regional co-operation and ultimately for evolving a common market, but Pakistan was not interested in it.

Apparently referring to Pakistan's insistence on discussing the Kashmir issue, the prime minister said to make one conditionality for resolving disputes was not a constructive approach.

''This is a wrong thought process,'' he said. Disputes should not come in the way of economic development.

SAARC has contributed to development of bilateral relations but bilateral matters cannot be part of the formal agenda, he said.

''At the SAARC summit India played a leading role and there is no question of India being isolated and the talks at Manila resulted in a better understanding about India's security,'' he asserted.

The prime minister appeared critical of the tendency to stay put with May 11. Much water has flowed down the bridge since then and now a global solution to the nuclear issue is the focus of deliberations, he said.

In an obvious reference to the nuclear powers, the prime minister said those who preach should first look at themselves. A time-bound destruction of nuclear weapons is the only solution, he said.

He reiterated that India had not gone nuclear for the sake of aggression. ''We have gone nuclear for our own safety and security,'' he said.

''Deterrent and that too a minimum deterrent is the basis of our policy,'' Vajpayee said.

He reiterated that India will not be the first to use nuclear weapons.

The prime minister also said India was for formalising its voluntary moratorium on further nuclear testing.

India being a nuclear weapons state by itself was a deterrent, he said.

He said Kashmir was not only the focal point of Pakistan's diplomacy but it was trying hard to "ensure that somehow non-proliferation got linked to Kashmir".

The two things were poles apart and there was no linkage whatsoever, the prime minister said.

He pointed out that the P-5 and G-8 countries had also not linked Kashmir to non-proliferation.

The situation in Kashmir had improved. The Amarnath Yatra was going on normally, elections had been held and an increasing number of tourists were going to the state now, Vajpayee said.

He accused Pakistan of harbouring expansionist designs. He said the Pakistani rulers were not satisfied with the present borders and wanted to change the status quo.

Vajpayee said Pakistan did not want that a Muslim majority state should remain part of India.

He accused Pakistan of retracing from the talks for which agenda had been prepared.

He said India was not prepared for talking just on Kashmir.

He said Pakistan was not ready for a wide-range of all encompassing discussions.

The prime minister said the fact of the matter was that Pakistan was not interested in talks and wanted to internationalise the Kashmir issue. He said even the Arab countries, the P-5 and the G-8 had not endorsed this.

So much so that even China was for resolving the Kashmir issue through dialogue, he said.

He said which sovereign country would accept conditionalities such as suggested by Pakistan that the Hurriyat be recognised as the leading organisation of Kashmir and the Indian government hold talks with it.

He said in spite of the Pakistani attitude, India would continue its efforts as improvement in relations with Pakistan was very important.

The prime minister also said that the talks with the Chinese representative at Manila had been very useful and would help untie the knot.

He said it could not be denied that some issues between India and China remained to be sorted out.

Vajpayee said China had been told not to go merely by press reports and also denied that Defence Minister George Fernandes had said China was threat number one.

UNI

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