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US links Clinton visit to non-proliferation dialogue

C K Arora in Washington

The United States is sticking to its tough postures towards India on the nuclear issue, saying ''while we continue to believe that India is better off without nuclear weapons, we recognise that India feels it needs such capability.''

''The tone and content of my trip and President Clinton's next year hinge on the progress we make in our security and non-proliferation dialogue,'' Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, who will visit New Delhi and Varanasi between October 26 and 28, told a press conference yesterday.

When an Indian journalist sought to interpret his statement as the realisation on the part of the United States ''that India needs nuclear weapons,'' Richardson disagreed with him and read out from his prepared statement which laid emphasis on ''what India feels'' on the issue.

Richardson said the United States was discussing a number of concrete, near-term steps India could take to address American security concerns ''and, in our view, that would be in India's national security interests.''

These include: adherence to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty; constructive engagement on the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty; participation in a multilateral moratorium on fissile material production for weapons, pending conclusion of a cut-off treaty; restraint in missile development, including non-deployment; and strengthened controls over the export of nuclear material.

''Although we have heard India's intentions with respect to several of these steps,'' he pointed out, ''we have been disappointed frankly at the lack of concrete action to achieve them.''

Richardson, however, said: ''We are encouraged that India plans to proceed with efforts to build a consensus for the test ban treaty, despite the failure of the US Senate to ratify it.''

Asked about the possibility of US supplying nuclear power plants to India, he said: ''We don't know. Nobody's asked us on this. This is not on the agenda.''

Turning to his India visit, he, however, said: ''We are going to discuss with the Indian government a number of energy co-operation ventures. We hope to conclude some agreements in several areas. I suspect there will be some discussions on nuclear power development.''

''I will be, I think, the first cabinet member to go to India before the president's potential visit. The elections have just taken place. This is a positive visit. This is a visit that underscores the importance of the American-Indian relationship,'' he added.

The secretary said: ''I want to see increased scientific cooperation. We have some restrictions that Congress has imposed on us, but I think they are sufficiently flexible so that we can have vigorous American-foreign scientific cooperation. And my hope is to expand on the scientific cooperation between the United States and India,'' he added.

UNI

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