Disarmament Diplomacy

Issue No. 13, February - March 1997

India Foreign Minister Urges NWFW Talks

Speaking in New Delhi on 23 January, at a seminar organised by the United Services Institute of India, External Affairs Minister, Inder Kumar Gujral, stated that "the end of the Cold War offers us a unique opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world." Calling for immediate negotiations to that end, Gujral said it was "heartening to note that there is growing interest in discussing these issues." However, he repeated India's opposition to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), describing it as "no longer linked to the process of nuclear disarmament":

"It only prohibits nuclear explosion testing and therefore cannot be described as a comprehensive treaty that would ban all kinds of nuclear testing whether based on explosions or other techniques."

Report: India wants talks to eradicate nuclear weapons, Agence France-Presse International News, 23 January.

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