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All the best, India tells US delegation in Pak

The Indian government today wished the Clinton administration success in persuading Pakistan to abandon its reported plan to conduct nuclear tests.

Pramod Mahajan, the premier's political advisor, ''I wish every success to the US delegation, which is currently in Islamabad to persuade the Pakistani government to exercise restraint."

Asked what India's reaction would be if Pakistan conducted nuclear tests, Mahajan said, ''It is a hypothetical question. Let them do it, we will decide the action.''

''How can I react without Pakistani leaders stating that Islamabad is going to conduct nuclear tests ? Nothing has happened at present, so why I should be concerned?'' he said.

US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, who is heading a high-level delegation to Pakistan, has been directed by President Clinton to convince its leaders about the futility in following India's lead, besides offering some kind of a package to make a counter nuclear test unattractive to Islamabad.

"I hope they will be as strong and unambiguous as possible,'' Clinton told reporters today as he met with Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. Clinton also praised Japan for swiftly imposing sanctions as the United States has done.

"We have been extremely concerned about both the second nuclear experiment by India and also the developing situation in Indonesia,'' Hashimoto said. "Our co-operation is most critical in tackling those two issues.''

Earlier, Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy said, "We will press as hard as we can against India. It has got to be a totally integrated approach. Otherwise, the Indian government will think they have got away with it.''

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the host for the G-8 summit, wanted to streamline the discussions, giving the leaders of the seven wealthiest nations and Russia more time to brainstorm about the pesky problems of unemployment, international crime and an overhaul of the global financial system.

But that plan went out the window with India's unexpected detonation of a series of underground nuclear tests, severe rioting that has shaken the 32-year rule of Indonesian President Suharto, and escalating violence in Serbia-dominated Kosovo.

Clinton urged genuine political reform in Indonesia, saying the loss of life and other destructive developments have been "heart-breaking.''

He declined to directly address a question about whether Suharto should step down after three decades in power.

"The question you ask is one the Indonesian people have to decide. What we do believe is important is that the president find a way to open a dialogue with all those in society and that it lead to genuine social and political reform,'' he said.

Before meeting Hashimoto, Clinton adopted a less critical stance with Japan, a country his administration had repeatedly accused of not doing enough as the world's second largest economy to combat the Asian financial crisis.

UNI

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