Mr. Mohammad Sarwar (Glasgow, Govan): Is my right hon. Friend aware of the rising tensions between India and Pakistan, which could lead to a full-scale war and possibly a nuclear confrontation? What steps are the Government taking to diffuse the situation and to resolve the dispute over Kashmir, which is the root cause of the deteriorating relations between the two countries?
The Prime Minister: We are urging both India and Pakistan to calm the situation down and resolve their differences. We know that the source of those differences is Kashmir, but it is important that they work out a solution in the interests of everybody. That is what we are doing, and we are also using what influence we have in international institutions like the UN to put pressure on them to do so.
PRESS RELEASE by Movement in India for Nuclear Disarmament (MIND)
The present escalation of hostilities and actual engagement between
Pakistani and Indian forces has the potential to snowball into a major
conflict. This is the first occasion when engagement of this kind has taken
place between the two countries since the 1971 Indo-Pak war. That it is
happening today when the sub-continent is under a nuclear shadow, makes the
situation especially alarming for people on both sides of the border. When
the two countries had conducted nuclear tests a year ago, it was claimed by
both Govts. that this would actually work towards stabilising the security
climate in the region.
The recent spate of hostilities, barely 3 months after the Lahore
declaration, shows how fragile the security climate in the region actually
is. What makes the situation doubly dangerous is the fact that the
legitimacy of both Governments, at this point of time, is seriously
compromised. While legitimate security concerns need to be addressed, there
is absolutely no room for military adventurism under the looming threat of a
nuclear shadow. Violation of the Line of Control by either side should be
avoided at all costs. It is of critical importance that both sides excercise
utmost restraint, work towards cessation of hostilities immediately and
press for a peaceful settlement of disputes.
By P. S. Suryanarayana
BANGKOK, March 3. - India today proposed a multilateral dialogue on "practical ideas for nuclear disarmament" to enhance global security in general and scale up confidence in the Asia-Pacific region in particular.
Presenting the country paper at the official-level meeting of a panel of the Association of South East Asian Nations' Regional Forum (ARF) in Bangkok, the Indian delegation called for "no- first-use commitments" by the nuclear powers as a collective step that could be taken with immediate effect.
Spelling out measures for "delegitimisation of nuclear weapons" as a prelude to comprehensive nuclear disarmament, India suggested a reduction of the "role of nuclear weapons in the security postures" of those with these arsenals.
The "de-targetting" and "de-alerting" of all nuclear weapons and a "no-first-use commitment" were cited as initial priorities
for any meaningful global agenda of eventual abolition of these instruments of war.
An impetus for this blueprint was traced to the fact that "two of the seven declared possessors of nuclear weapons" - their identities being obvious - had already pledged themselves to a policy of not being the first to launch an atomic-arms assault.
A collective "no-first-use commitment," if enshrined in a possible international accord and also reflected in "military doctrines and force postures" could spark a robust chain- reaction of "delegitimisation" of atomic weapons.
In opening the two-day meeting of the ARF Inter-sessional Support Group on Confidence Building Measures, the Thai Foreign Secretary, Mr. Saroj Chavanaviraj, called for "comprehensive and cooperative security."
The meeting is being co-chaired by Mr. Ralph Boyce, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
On a different diplomatic front in Thailand, the visiting U.S. Secretary of State, Ms. Madeleine Albright, focussed attention on the need for a concerted international drive against narcotics.
She is also expected to discuss the Khmer Rouge trial issue with her Thai interlocutors.
July 1998 (Revised and updated on October1, 1998)
Recent developments in South Asia in the field of nuclear weapons and the means of their delivery are a serious threat to the well being of this region. The fact that India and Pakistan have fought wars in the recent past and do not as yet enjoy the best of relations, makes this development all the more ominous. The signatories of this statement are not theoreticians or arm-chair idealists; we have spent many long years
in the profession of arms and have served our countries both in peacetime and in war. By virtue of our experience and the positions we have held, we have a fair understanding of the destructive parameters of conventional and nuclear weapons. We are of the considered view that nuclear weapons should be banished from the South Asian region, and indeed from the entire globe. We urge India and Pakistan to take the
lead by doing away with nuclear weapons in a manifest and verifiable manner, and to confine nuclear research and development strictly to peaceful and beneficient spheres.
We are convinced that the best way of resolving disputes is through peaceful means and not through war - least of all by the threat or use of nuclear weapons. India and Pakistan need to address their real problems of poverty and backwardness, not waste our scarce resources on acquiring means of greater and greater destruction.
Signed by 64 top military personnel
INDIA CALLS FOR TALKS ON NO-FIRST USE
From the Indian daily The Hindu
http://www.webpage.com/hindu/daily/990304/03/03040003.htm
JOINT STATEMENT AGAINST NUCLEAR TESTS AND WEAPONS BY RETIRED PAKISTANI (AND BANGLADESHI) ARMED FORCES PERSONNEL
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