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Australia suspends aid, cancels defence deals

Australia will suspend all defence contracts and the delivery of non-humanitarian aid to India in protest against its detonation of nuclear devices, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said today.

After a meeting of the national security committee, Howard said India's detonation of five nuclear blasts in the past three days was an irresponsible action taken for political gain, which threatened regional security.

"We deplore and condemn absolutely what India has done,'' Howard told a news conference. "It is an irresponsible genuflection to transient domestic political popularity."

"What the Indian government has done is to play fast and loose with international safety and security in the interest of short term political gain,'' Howard said.

India yesterday conducted two underground explosions, in defiance of worldwide outrage over the three tests it conducted on Monday.

Australia, which has already recalled its most senior diplomat from New Delhi, will now withdraw its defence attache and all defence force officers training in India. Indian officers training in Australia will be asked to leave, Howard said.

Mirroring similar sanctions already announced by the United States, Australia will also suspend all non-humanitarian aid to India.

In a lenghty statement, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the ''outrageous act'' perpetrated by India ''risks a regional arms race and is in flagrant defiance of the international community's strong support for nuclear non-proliferation''. The statement was released by the Australian high commission in New Delhi.

Australia had suspended bilateral defence relations with India, including the recall of Australia's defence adviser stationed in New Delhi, the cancellation of ship and aircraft visits, officer exchanges and other defence related visits. Australian defence force personnel currently training in India will be withdrawn. Australia would request the immediate departure of three Indian defence personnel currently at defence colleges in Australia, Downer added.

Downer said Australia would take every opportunity to register its strong opposition to India's nuclear testing programme and would continue to encourage and support the efforts of others to put an end to all nuclear weapons testing. He asked India's neighbours to exercise utmost restraint in the face of ''this provocation''.

He said his country considered India's actions could have the most damaging consequences for security in South Asia and globally.

Australia was scheduled to provide more than ten million dollars in aid to India in the financial year beginning July 1, 1998, about half of which was earmarked for non-humanitarian purposes such as industry and infrastructure development.

Earlier, Pakistan's High Cmmissioner Khawar Zaman in Australia called for stronger international action against India.

"We would like to see very strong sanctions and condemnation and something real and positive, the kind of sanctions we have seen being imposed on some Gulf countries who had flouted world opinion,'' Zaman told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

UNI

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