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Indian government misled us, says US

The Clinton administration has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government of engaging in a ''campaign of duplicity'' to mislead the United States about its intentions to test the nuclear devices.

''We had, in recent weeks and months, 20 very high-level contacts with the Indian government, in which we made clear the consequences of a failure to have restraint. And, frankly, they engaged in a campaign of duplicity. We were misled,'' State Department spokesman James P Rubin said yesterday.

Asked whether he was aware of any provocative actions that Pakistan might have engaged in during the very month of April, he said there was a missile test but he was not aware of any such action with regard to the nuclear programme.

He said he had seen the Government of India's explanations for its testing of the five nuclear devices and ''they just simply don't hold water.''

Rubin disagreed with India's assessment of the security environment in the region and said the situation had not deteriorated.

''They raise the question of China and they raise the question of Pakistan but frankly, the recent months have seen a time when security was not decreased substantially for the Indian government. Clearly, the desire to do this was for political reasons because we do not believe that they have improved their security by potentially setting off a nuclear arms race in South Asia,'' he added.

He said the US assessment of India's intentions had been determined in part by misinformation provided by the new government.

He made these observations when a journalist drew his attention to the April 3 letter of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief to US President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, warning against the imminent operationalising of India's nuclear capabilities.

The journalist also said that two weeks later, when US Ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson and Assistant Secretary of State Karl F Inderfurth arrived in India, Richardson was full of praise for the restraint shown by the new Indian government.

Rubin, in reply, said the serious scholars of the subcontinent believed that engagement with India and Pakistan was the best way to bring home to them the advantages of not going outside the mainstream in the nuclear area.

''We did so, but never did we downgrade the importance that we assigned to restraint in the nuclear and missile area. We had, in recent weeks and months, 20 very high-level contacts with the Indian government in which we made clear the consequences of a failure to have restraint, and frankly, they engaged in a campaign of duplicity,'' he added.

It was a fact that the BJP, when it came to power, did not hide at all what they wanted to do. Could you just tell us a little bit about the actual discussions that Richardson or ambassador Thomas Pickering (under secretary of state for political affairs) might have had on this particular issue?

Rubin: All I can say is that following the election in the month of April and prior to that, although we had heard these kind of things (about the BJP's views on nuclear issue) publicly -- and, as some members of the US Congress point out, we can read -- we did directly address these questions with the Indian government. The reaction we got was that they would continue their policy of restraint and that they were engaged in a several-month review (of the security).

Therefore, when the nuclear explosive devices were set off in recent days, they were acting inconsistent with high-level representations made to the United States government. And although we always understood that this was a possibility, as a result of reading as well as other factors, that does not mean that if there is a serious misleading of our highest level officials that we are in a position to read the minds of other people.

When you accuse them of duplicity and misleading top US officials, it implies that you really have evidence you can document. That statement is a very strong. Could you provide the documentation to us or more details of exactly what was said?

Rubin: Within the realm of what is normally provided publicly, I would be happy to describe meetings. But beyond that, I am not in a position to do that.

Well, it's just that if they're lying or deliberately misleading, then it certainly makes your case all the stronger to back it up with facts.

Rubin: Again, I will endeavour to provide what information I can, but I am drawing conclusions based on conversations with the players who were misled. That includes the top officials of our government. I am telling you that we feel misled.

Do you think that the US embassy in Delhi reported with sufficient depth and breadth?

Rubin: You know, this happened two days ago. When we have time to do a full-fledged review of all of the cables and all of the information we received from the embassy, we will do so. I am sure it will be part of any review the administration will conduct, including what other agencies will conduct. But again, I think all of you who are looking for scapegoats in the United States, should target your attention on the Government of India's decision to mislead the rest of the world and act on their determination to launch nuclear explosives. All knowledge cannot be had in advance in this world.

UNI

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