NEW DELHE: INDOUS talks on nuclear non-proliferation have broken down even before the third round has begun.

Pakistan has told the Americans that they are not interested in finding a solution to the subcontinents nuclear problems through bilateral talks between New Delhi and Washington on the one hand and between Islamabad and Washington on the other.

Instead Islamabad is insisting on a five nation conference on nonproliferation in South Asia as the only solution to the problem of a nuclear threat to countries in this region.

Pakistan’s unexpected shift in position has put the US now run by a lame duck administration in a quandary since India is opposed to the idea of a five nation conference on the issue.

The talks in Washington between India and the US will be held on November 12 and 13 but they will now have no substance since Pakistan which has to be party to any solution to the problem of nonproliferation in South Asia has opted out of the talk’s altogether.

According to knowledgeable sources the US administration had planned a round of bilateral talks with Pakistan to be held soon after the third round of discussions with India on November 12 and 13.

But suddenly Pakistan communicated to the US its decision not to take part in any bilateral talks.

It said the only way out of deadlock on the nuclear issue in the subcontinent was to bring India to a five nation conference.

Diplomatic sources here believe the US has very little room for maneuver on the issue because Washington although a party lo the bilateral talks has all along endorsed the idea of five power talks on the nuclear issue.

India on the other hand has all along maintained that there cannot be a regional approach to the question of nonproliferation.

New Delhi has based its policy on the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s position that only a global approach to the nuclear problem can bring about any lasting solution to the issue

Although Pakistan has opted out of the bilateral talks with the US it is understood to have worked out a formula for the US which will enable all parties concerned to pretend that the process of denuclearization of the subcontinent is continuing.

Article extracted from this publication >> November 13, 1992