Role only if Colombo requests: Jaswant

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE, JUNE 2. The External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, who is here on a three-day official visit, today reaffirmed India's commitment to uphold the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka and expressed the view that this could also be best preserved if the aspirations of all the people in Sri Lanka were met.

Answering questions after a public lecture on the latest security paradigm for India and the ASEAN, Mr. Singh said that India was ``engaged'' with the Sri Lankan Government. He said that India ``cannot independently assume'' for itself ``a role in Sri Lanka that is not at the Sri Lankan Government's request.''

Not visualising a role for the United Nations, either, Mr. Singh pointed out how Norway, whose facilitative role of bringing peace to Sri Lanka had been requisitioned by Colombo itself, was in ``constant touch'' with India.

Asked to spell out what Pakistan had to do to create a climate conducive for the resumption of talks with New Delhi, Mr. Singh said that a stoppage of the efforts at promoting cross-border terrorism and a reaffirmation of bilateral treaties and agreements such as the Shimla Accord and the Lahore Declaration would be among the measures needed.

Alternative on n-issue

On the nuclear issue, Mr. Singh said that India had proposed an ``alternative route to disarmament.'' The ``no-first use of nuclear weapons'' as a norm for international commitment, the non-use of nuclear weapons against those unarmed with such arsenal, and a provision for ``a de-alert'' of deployed weapons could constitute such an alternative approach, he outlined.

As for India's credentials to play a stabilising role in the affairs of East Asia, Mr. Singh pointed out that this need not be seen as a spinoff of the recent visit of the U.S. President, Mr. Bill Clinton, to India and the resultant view in some diplomatic quarters about a nascent Indo-American strategic relationship.

Affirming New Delhi's belief that ``India and the U.S. are natural allies'' and that the two countries were now moving in the direction of firming up that reality, Mr. Singh underscored that ``this is not to imply that Indo-U.S. relations are, in any sense, directed against any other bilateral relationship or any other country or grouping.''

On the new regional proposal of an Asian monetary fund, Mr. Singh said he would ``encourage discussion'' on it. But he would ``tread cautiously in Asia'' in regard to the idea of a currency bloc, Mr. Singh said.

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