ELECTIONS '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ARCHIVES

Condemnation, no sanctions, is G-8 outcome

Murali Krishnan in Birmingham

Leaders at the G-8 summit in Britain have collectively condemned the nuclear tests carried out by India.

However, the eight countries represented at the meeting did not agree on any co-ordinated programme of sanctions against India.

Their statement came even as India proclaimed it was now a nuclear power with the ability to build a "big bomb". Meanwhile, neighbouring Pakistan has said it is yet to decide whether it will respond with nuclear tests of its own.

The issue of India's nuclear ambitions looked set to be one of the main subjects coming up for discussion among leaders of the most advanced industrial nations, who have gathered in Birmingham, UK, for the G-8 summit. It was, however, clear from the start that the G-8 was divided on the issue of sanctions.

In a statement issued after talks over dinner on Saturday, the eight leaders said India's underground tests had been met with concern and opposition. The eight leaders had retreated to a splendid farmhouse, Manor House, where the statement was released.

They expressed "grave concern about the increased risk of nuclear and missile proliferation in south Asia and elsewhere".

"We urge India and other states in the region to refrain from further tests and the deployment of nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles," the leaders said.

They called on India to unconditionally sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

They also called on India to enter negotiations on a treaty to stop the production of material needed to produce nuclear weapons.

The G-8 member states did not reach any collective stance on sanctions. The United States and Japan have imposed their own measures on India, but Russia and the west Europeans think that is not the best way forward and would not be a deterrent.

Pakistan's tense relationship with its neighbour prompted the G-8 leaders to ask Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief to exercise maximum restraint. A letter from Sharief to the G-8 leaders was circulated before the summit, requesting them to take 'strong action' against India for its unwarranted action of carrying out the test explosions in Rajasthan last week.

Earlier on Friday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, telephoned his Indian counterpart Atal Bihari Vajpayee to express the dismay of world leaders meeting at the G-8 summit in Birmingham at India's nuclear tests.

Fears of a south Asian arms race diminished slightly after Pakistan appeared to back away from conducting its own nuclear tests. US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbot has been meeting Sharief with the aim of quelling any proliferation.

The statement by the G-8 leaders will certainly be considered 'unsatisfactory' by Pakistan whose government was looking for 'punitive sanctions' against India which would bite.

The other issues which were discussed in the summit were to relieve the burden of debt on developing countries. Blair's hopes of sealing a deal have been dashed. But world leaders at the G-8 summit have agreed to consider further action on the issue. The leaders of the top industrialised nations have urged a 'yes' vote in Friday's referendum on Northern Ireland's Good Friday Agreement, welcoming it as a basis for prosperity and peace.

While acknowledging the need for the deal to secure widespread support, all the G-8 countries pledged their backing for the peace process.

The eight world leaders also issued a draft statement outlining the steps they had agreed on combating 'cyber crime', after being warned that it posed a global threat to society.

Tell us what you think of this report