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Clinton repeats call to India to eschew N-weapons, sign CTBT

US President Bill Clinton on Friday asked India to halt its nuclear weapons programme and join the 149 nations which had signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

Speaking at a function in Washington, he also urged Pakistan to exercise restraint and avoid the perilous nuclear arms race.

He said India's nuclear tests last week had threatened stability in South Asia, challenging the firm international consensus to stop all nuclear tests.

Clinton said the spectre of dangerous rivalry was one of the many signs of threat to international peace and security.

Meanwhile, the Clinton administration does not appear keen on China emerging as a security guarantor to Pakistan, and says the US would like steps taken by all government in the region to enhance regional security and stability.

White House spokesman Mike McCurry on Friday said, "There are a number of ways that could help it happen and number of ways in which we pursue our diplomacy in coming weeks and months, we'll try to make that happen, in light of India's test."

He made these observations when asked whether the Clinton administration would like to see China become Pakistan's security guarantor, in other words put them under a kind of iron-clad nuclear umbrella.

He said, ''There will be lots of discussions about ways in which we can enhance security and balance on the Indian subcontinent."

Asked as to when the US would be ready to present Pakistan with measures that could improve their security, beyond the delivery of the embargoed F-16 aircraft which Islamabad had already dismissed as being not good enough, McCurry said, "I am just not previewing the kind of substantive discussions we've had with the government of Pakistan or others about ways in which in the face of the Indian nuclear test we can work to try to put the genie back in the bottle and to limit tensions."

UNI

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