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No interference in India's affairs: US

C K Arora in Washington

The US state department has made it clear that President Bill Clinton's desire to work for defusing the crisis between India and Pakistan does not mean any kind of interference in India's affairs or, in any way, harming its interest.

Replying to a question about the president's observation to this effect in his State of the Union Address on Thursday, US state department's Deputy Director Of policy Planning James C O'Brien said: ''I don't think he (Clinton) was proposing anything that in any way runs against the interests of the Indian government.''

He said President Clinton had expressed ''a strong interest in visiting India and engaging with the Indian government, including on the issues that are of concern with Pakistan. But I don't believe he will -- you know, there is no suggestion there of anything that would interfere with the Indian government's interests.''

Asked whether Clinton would visit Pakistan during his visit to South Asia in the spring, O'Brien said Secretary of State Madeleine Albright would make a recommendation about it.

''Obviously, the President will have to make his decision as he gets closer to the time of the visit,'' he added.

O'Brien, however, said: ''We have engagement with the Pakistan government on a number of issues. We're very concerned about its return to civilian democratic rule quickly, and in that sense, deplored the notion that the government attempted to set itself outside review of independent courts. We have continued engagement with them on issues of anti-terrorism, non-proliferation and other regional concerns.''

When asked as to why India and Pakistan should listen to the US advice to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty when it had failed to ratify the pact, O'Brien said the international norm in the CTBT provided protection for all people in the world, and ''it does that by laying down a rule that impedes the development of nuclear weapons by forbidding a particular means of developing them, the testing.''

He said the United States had already committed itself not to conduct those kinds of tests. ''We're maintaining that moratorium even after the Senate action, and I think, thus, by our actions, we are reflecting a commitment to the norm that lies at the heart of the non-proliferation regime,'' he added.

He said the US remained a world leader on non-proliferation issues. ''We continue to work whenever there is a threat to that particular international regime. We hope to develop and then reinforce and enforce other international regimes.''

UNI

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