India committed to signing CTBT after consensus: PM

By Alok Mukherjee

LISBON, JUNE 28. India today utilised the first-ever summit with the European Union to convey its reasons for acquiring nuclear capability and reaffirmed its commitment to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) once a political consensus was achieved at home.

The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, told the top leadership of the E.U. that India believed that for an effective multi-polarity in the world today, it was necessary to create a plural security order that accommodated and acknowledged the growing strength and confidence of the emerging economic and security players. ``In an increasingly interdependent world, a plural security order alone can deal with the challenges of the new era. It is in this context that the development of our nuclear capability should be seen.''

``It is part of our resolve to build a multi-polar world where we have strategic space and autonomy in decision- making. Our view of regional security goes beyond the passive absence of conflict to the active building of confidence with our neighbours,'' he said at the plenary session of the India-E.U. summit.

Later, at a joint press conference with the Portugal Prime Minister, Mr. Antonio Guterres, and the President of the European Commission, Mr. Romano Prodi, Mr. Vajpayee, to a question about India signing the CTBT, said the matter was under consideration and Parliament was expected to consider it in the next session. ``Efforts are on to evolve a broad political consensus on the issue. We hope to succeed.''

India's concerns at terrorism also got an endorsement from the E.U. leadership. Mr. Vajpayee brought up the issue in his presentation at the meeting when he said that for more than a decade India had been subjected to cross-border terrorism, which claimed the lives of thousands of its citizens. India had been fighting this terror with the weapons available to a democracy, he said, and noted the positive position taken by the E.U. when it was subjected to premeditated aggression in Kargil and during the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane. ``Kargil was a violation of a trust, a rude setting aside of the hand of peace that I had extended in February 1999 when I travelled to Lahore. The journey was a demonstration of our commitment to peace, a commitment betrayed by Kargil.''

Response from the E.U. was not lacking. The joint declaration at the end of the summit stated that the two partners ``share the conviction that terrorism remains a major threat to regional and international peace and security... We will bolster joint efforts to counter terrorism and meet all other challenges arising from it both in the regional and international context. We agree, therefore, to strive for a comprehensive convention on international terrorism.'' The convention at the U.N. level has been proposed by India.

About this point in the context of Pakistan, the Portugal Prime Minister, who is the current President of the E.U., made it clear that whatever he said was on behalf of the 14 other members of the grouping. ``We support India's stand on this issue. We believe that dialogue, and a cooperative attitude from both India and Pakistan, are necessary. We heard about the measures taken by India in this regard and we appreciate them.'' Mr. Vajpayee too emphasised that the differences between India and Pakistan could be resolved only through bilateral negotiations. ``There is no room for any third-party involvement, however, well- intentioned.''

To a question from the foreign press quoting Pakistani officials about India setting pre-conditions for talks, the External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, said India had always encouraged dialogue and there were no preconditions. ``But Pakistan must stop cross-border terrorism and abandon `jehad' as a matter of foreign policy so that proper environment is created for a dialogue.''

On changes to the Anti-Ballistic Missiles Treaty, Mr. Singh clarified that the matter had figured at the level of Foreign Ministers and India reiterated that it did not support ``militarisation of outer space as it could only enhance tensions rather than diminish it''.

During the summit, India also made out its case for membership of the U.N. Security Council. The E.U. normally does not take a position on such issues collectively; it is left to individual members to take a view.

At the end of the meeting, the Indian delegation, as well as the European Commission team, stressed that the summit had been extremely useful in enhancing the level of political and economic relationship between India and the E.U. While economic relations had been an on-going process, the level of political dialogue had been raised. The next summit would be held in India in 2001, it was announced.

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