Govt launches major diplomatic offensive ahead of G-8, P-5 meets
George Iypein New Delhi
The Vajpayee government has launched a major diplomatic offensive to explain the country's security concerns to friendly nations even as the five permanent UN Security Council members are all set to discuss the Indo-Pak nuclear tests and the Kashmir issue in Geneva on Thursday.
While Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Wednesday briefed visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi about India's compulsions in conducting the nuclear tests, sources said he is sending special envoys to Germany, Italy and Japan to explain India's position in this regard.
Brajesh Mishra, the prime minister's principal secretary, has already met French President Jacques Chirac in an effort to acquaint him with India's stand on the nuclear tests, the Kashmir issue and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
Among the P-5 members -- the United States, Britain, China, Russia and France -- the latter two nations have shown considerable understanding of India's explanations on the nuclear blasts.
While Mishra is also scheduled to visit Moscow, external affairs ministry sources said prime ministerial emissaries will visit Germany, Italy and Japan before the G-8 foreign ministers summit next week.
The Kashmir issue and the Indo-Pak nuclear arms race are expected to top the agenda at the G-8 meeting in London on Friday next, June 12.
In his meeting with the Iranian foreign minister, Vajpayee appealed to the Islamic world -- that the nuclear tests were undertaken to ensure India's security.
According to an external affairs ministry spokesperson, the prime minister told the Iranian leader that India is committed to complete nuclear disarmament and that meaningful progress in this direction is of critical importance to international peace and security.
Vajpayee also assured the Arab world that India will observe a voluntary moratorium and refrain from conducting further tests and that the country is ready to participate in negotiations at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
Reiterating India's readiness for direct bilateral dialogue with Pakistan, the prime minister told the Iranian minister that New Delhi is awaiting a response from Islamabad to re-open the peace talks. "But there is no place for any third-party negotiation in India-Pakistan relations," he said.
Kharrazi, who flew to New Delhi after a visit to Islamabad, also held extensive discussions with Minister of State for External Affairs Vasundhara Raje and Indian diplomats. The Iranian minister is said to have offered a helping hand to reduce tensions between India and Pakistan.
An official at the Iranian embassy in New Delhi told Rediff On The NeT that Kharrazi's discussions with
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief centred on Kashmir. "Pakistan is ready for a dialogue with India and there are possible ideas which could be explored to reduce tension in South Asia," he said on behalf of Kharrazi.
The Iranian leader is reported to have suggested to both Sharief and Vajpayee to swiftly conclude a non-aggression agreement to promote peace and security in the region.
The Iranian official said Kharrazi dismissed reports that Iran was preparing to follow Pakistan with nuclear tests of its own. Iran has repeatedly denied Israeli and US allegations that it is close to building a nuclear bomb.
Foreign affairs experts say the Vajpayee government's efforts to convince world leaders, especially in the Islamic world, about the reason for India's nuclear tests are in the right direction.
"Now is the time for India to show the fine art of international diplomacy and I think the BJP government is doing it pretty well. But now is also the time for the country to move forward to the nuclear non-proliferation dialogue," former foreign secretary J N Dixit told Rediff On The NeT.
Sending special envoys to major powers to convey the country's viewpoint was long overdue, he said. "After going nuclear, India has to prove that it does not have any aggressive and hegemonistic intentions."
"The government has to tell the world that India has acquired nuclear capacity, but now we are ready for international discipline and disarmament," Dixit added.
Tell us what you think of this report
|