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G-8 foreign ministers to discuss N-tests

G-8 foreign ministers will meet in London on June 12 in London to discuss the situation following the nuclear tests conducted by India and Pakistan.

A spokesman of the British foreign office said today that the meeting, called at short notice, was aimed at coordinating the position of the G-8 nations.

Earlier, a prominent Russian law-maker today called for a meeting of the G-8 industrialised countries to discuss the proliferation of nuclear weapons following atomic tests by India and Pakistan.

Vladimir Lukin, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the lower house of the Russian parliament, also urged Russia to show its commitment to disarmament by ratifying the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty II.

Lukin urged the Russian government to suggest the meeting of G-8 which includes the United States, Canada, Japan, Britain, Germany, France and Italy.

''Indian and Pakistani representatives should certainly be invited to this meeting,'' Lukin told the Itar-Tass news agency.

He called Pakistan and India's nuclear tests another incentive for the 'soonest possible ratification of the Russian-US Start II treaty'.

The treaty was signed in 1993 and ratified by the United States, but not by Russia. Some law-makers in Russia's largely hardlineparliament say it would hurt the country's national security and be expensive to implement.

The speaker of the state Duma expressed concern about the nuclear tests today, but told the Interfax news agency he was sure India and Pakistan have enough common sense not to use their newly acquired weapons against each other.

''The tests are reason for serious fears and alarms because they may lead to a chain reaction of proliferation of nuclear weapons in Asia,'' Gennady Seleznyov said.

''Nobody can guarantee that Iraq and Iran will not wish to join the nuclear club now,'' he said.

The Russian foreign ministry has accused Islamabad of throwing to the winds wisdom and caution ''at a very critical moment'' by carrying out five nuclear tests on Thursday.

In a strongly-worded statement, the foreign ministry said years of confrontation and rivalry between India and Pakistan are now assuming entirely new dimensions.

''Moscow regrets Pakistani leadership's inability to rein in its nuclear ambitions and demonstrate wisdom and caution at a very crucial moment,'' the statement from the ministry noted.

The Kremlin also warned about a real threat of nuclear weapons proliferating across the planet.

Islamabad's action has taken place despite the world community's persistent call to display restraint and not act on 'tit for tat' policy in response to India's nuclear tests, the ministry said expressing regret over Pakistan's action.

Russia, the statement reiterated, advocates making the non-proliferation structure universal 'by incorporating in it all states without any exception'.

It called upon Delhi and Islamabad to heed the world community's voice and desist from further tests. It also invited them to immediately join the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

UNI

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