NEW DELHI: India said recently, that its opposition to a global nuclear test ban treaty did not mean New Delhi intended to enter into any arms race with neighboring Pakistan and China. Foreign Minister LK. Gujral was asked at a news conference if India’s decision to block adoption of the ac cord in Geneva would lead to an arms race with Pakistan and China. “I don’t see that possibility because India is not entering into any arms race,” he said. “Our not signing a new treaty does not mean we are going in for any new kind of weapons, particularly nuclear,” China, along with Britain, France, Russia and the United States, is a declared nuclear power. India carried out a nuclear test in 1974 but Says it has not built the bomb believe both India and Pakistan could quickly assemble nuclear weapons. Gujral said he did not expect India’s veto of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) to damage bilateral ties with other nations. “I do not visualize its straining our bilateral relations with any country. The text has already been blocked,” he said. Gujral said India would reexamine its position if the treaty, particularly a clause providing for its entry into force, was modified. Asked what India would do if the pact were forwarded to the United Nations General Assembly, Gujral said: “That bridge l will cross when I come to it.”
Article extracted from this publication >> September 4, 1996
