CTBT linked to disarmament, India tells US

Lalit K Jha

Washington, Mar 24 (PTI) The "Indo-US differences" over
CTBT would recede if there is a credible and time-bound move
towards global nuclear disarmament, India has said and sought
the formation of a bilateral working group to achieve
universal abolition of atomic weapons.

Addressing the prestigious US-based think-tank Brookings
Institution, Prime Minister's Special Envoy Shyam Saran
identified Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) as a potential
contentious issue between India and the new US Administration.

"It is India's conviction that if the world moves
categorically towards nuclear disarmament in a credible
time-frame, then Indo-US differences over the CTBT would
probably recede into the background," he said.

Saran noted that "(US President Barack) Obama has made it
clear that he will seek Senate ratification of the CTBT, which
the US has signed, and India has not." Obama has also promised
to launch a "diplomatic effort to bring on board other states
whose ratifications are required for the treaty to enter into
force," he pointed out.

India, Saran said, has been a consistent votary of a CTBT
but did not sign the CTBT as it eventually emerged because it
was not explicitly linked to the goal of nuclear disarmament.

He proposed that India and the US can start a working
group at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva to pursue the
goal of abolition of nuclear weapons.

For India, linking CTBT with disarmament was crucial
"since it was not acceptable to legitimise, in any way, a
permanent division between nuclear weapon states and
non-nuclear weapon states," Saran said.

The other reason for refusal to sign the treaty was the
manner in which the CTBT was pushed through, bypassing the
Conference on Disarmament, which works by consensus, and
bringing the issue before the UN General Assembly, he said.

This was done, Saran argued, to over-ride Indian
objections and was justifiably seen in India as a not too
subtle attempt to foreclose India's options.

Additionally, he said, India was included in a category
of states whose signature and ratification were deemed
necessary in order for the treaty to come into force, again an
unusual provision, directed at putting international pressure
on New Delhi to join a pact whose provisions it did not agree
with.

"It was against this background that India did not sign
the CTBT. However, since its nuclear test in 1998, India has
observed a unilateral and voluntary moratorium and is
committed to its continuance," Saran said.

This is spelt out in Indo-US Joint Statement of 2005, he
observed.