Reprinted from The Washington Times , 5am -- May 15, 1998
U.S. says India lied about intentions repeatedly
By Toni Marshall
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
India's 2-month-old government persistently lied to the United States about its intentions to test nuclear weapons in some 20 meetings after it came to power in March, State Department spokesman James P. Rubin said Thursday.
"We had in recent weeks and months 20 very high-level contacts with the Indian government in which we made clear the consequences [of a nuclear test]. And frankly, they engaged in a campaign of duplicity," Mr. Rubin said in the wake of this week's two rounds of nuclear tests.
The spokesman also said a high-level U.S. delegation seeking to head off a retaliatory nuclear test in Pakistan had not gone "empty-handed," but he declined to say more about the group's instructions.
A State Department issue hinted afterward that the team headed by Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott might offer renewed efforts to lift the Pressler Amendment, which has blocked delivery of 28 F-16 fighters sold to Pakistan in the late 1980s.
"I can say they're not going empty-handed, but I don't want to get into the details of what it is that they are bringing with them before they've had a chance to discuss it with the Pakistanis," Mr. Rubin said.
Regarding India, Mr. Rubin said the Indian government was repeatedly asked about its nuclear intentions, "and the reaction we got was that they would continue their policy of restraint, and that they were engaged in a several-month review."
He also said the tests were conducted "clearly ... for political reasons."
In Birmingham, England, aides traveling with President Clinton said the president wants member nations at the Group of Eight summit to issue a joint statement condemning the tests, coupled with a warning to Pakistan against any nuclear test.
The aides said Mr. Clinton has given up hope of getting the economic powers to join the United States in issuing sanctions on India, as the United States did this week.
In Islamabad, Pakistan's Cabinet declared after a three-hour meeting that the security of the entire region was threatened by India's testing of five nuclear devices Monday and Wednesday.
"What India has done is short of a declaration of war," Foreign Minister Gohar Ayub said in an interview with the Associated Press.
The New York Times and ABC-TV, citing intelligence agencies and satellite data, said Pakistani technicians were already gathering at a test site for the country's first nuclear trial.
"They are preparing," a Clinton administration official told Reuters news agency.
Mr. Rubin said only that U.S. officials "are deeply concerned about the possibility of Pakistan following suit and conducting nuclear weapons explosions."
"We have reason to believe that that is a live possibility," he said.
Mr. Ayub said Pakistan's response "has to be a calculated choice ... to see the pros and cons, [but] our policy has been for a balance of power with India." He conceded his government "would be in great difficulty" politically if it chose not to test a nuclear device.
Mr. Ayub meets Friday with Mr. Talbott and Gen. Anthony Zinni, commander of the U.S. Central Command. "They'll talk to us and we will listen," he told AP.
But he said that Pakistan, which has been living with U.S. sanctions since Washington cut off $650 million worth of aid to Pakistan in 1990, is not worried about more sanctions should it decide to explode a device.
"We've gotten used to sanctions," he said. "It's nothing new."
If Pakistan does conduct a test, it will be subject to the same sanctions as India. Those have been estimated to cost that country more than $20 billion.
A State Department official said Mr. Talbott had carrots to offer as well as the stick of sanctions, including steps to ease delivery of the F-16s.
"We have been working hard to resolve the F-16 problem and we certainly could make more efforts in that direction," he said.
The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, ruled out any guarantee of U.S. help in case India used nuclear weapons against Pakistan. "Because of the ongoing conflict between the two countries, a security guarantee is an improbable option," he said.
Japan, India's biggest aid donor, also announced new sanctions against India over its nuclear testing, suspending new loans and temporarily withdrawing its ambassador, Hiroshi Hirabayashi, from New Delhi.
China, after a low-key reaction to the initial set of explosions, said it was "deeply shocked" by New Delhi's latest tests and urged the world community to close ranks to stop India from developing nuclear arms.
The U.N. Security Council issued a statement saying it "strongly deplores" the tests and "strongly urges" New Delhi to refrain from carrying out any more.
The mood of jubilation and defiance continued in India.
Admirers burst firecrackers and shouted slogans outside Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's residence, and students burned an effigy of Mr. Clinton in Calcutta.Copyright 1998 News World Communications, Inc.
Reprinted with permission of
The Washington Times.
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