Rediff On The NeT: Indonesia warns India, Pak on nuke arms: AFP

Indonesia has cautioned India and Pakistan against building a nuclear arsenal, saying such arms should only be used as a "diplomatic weapon," The Times of India reported on Saturday.

"It is ironical that India, which is still a developing country, acquired a bomb. So did Pakistan," Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid told the daily in an interview.

India conducted a series of nuclear tests in May 1998 and declared itself a full-fledged nuclear weapons state. Pakistan replied with its own explosions, triggering fears in the West of an arms race.

The Indonesian leader, who is scheduled to visit India soon although dates have yet to be announced, said a nuclear arms race would be costly.

"It is better to spend money on development than on nuclear weapons," the daily quoted Wahid as saying in Jakarta.

"The thought that India would be attacked by a nuclear power is crazy, and so it is with Pakistan. But both sides accuse each other. So the quarrel will never end," Wahid said.

However, he said India's security concerns also extended to its eastern borders with China. "We must remember nevertheless that for India the China factor is also important. Atomic arms should be used as means of pressure, as a diplomatic weapon, not as a real one," Wahid said.

Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country with 180 million people, was a close ally of India, home to more than 120 million Muslims, when they were members of the Non Aligned Movement. But since the collapse of the Soviet Union, they have drifted apart.

Wahid said he wanted to strengthen economic and political ties between the two nations to "meet the challenges of the post Cold War era."

Indonesia would also seek closer ties with other Asian nations --- including India and China --- in its quest to build a "truly multi-polar world," he said.

"Regional groupings like ASEAN, SAARC and others must try to develop a unique system. It will not be an alternative to the United Nations," he said, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.

©AFP 2000 All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed. All reproduction or redistribution is expressly forbidden without the prior written agreement of AFP.


	HOME \| NEWS \| AFP \| REPORT