On the diplomatic circuit

R. CHAKRAPANI
in New York

IN his address to the United Nations General Assembly and in the speeches he made elsewhere during his visit to the United States last fortnight, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee sought to allay the world community's concerns relating to India's recent exercise of the nuclear option.

Vajpayee also held a one-on-one meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at a New York hotel; the two leaders agreed to revive the stalled official-level dialogue on bilateral issues, including Kashmir. After the talks, Vajpayee declared: "A new chapter has been opened in Indo-Pakistani cooperation."

On the nuclear front, Vajpayee and Sharif held out much the same assurances to the General Assembly. They offered to adhere to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), subject to certain conditions. India did not clarify what its conditions were, but Sharif in his address spelt out what he expected of the ongoing discussions with Washington.

V.K. JOSHI/PTI/AP
Vajpayee with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Outlining the Indian Government's stand on signing the CTBT, Vajpayee told the General Assembly: "India, having normalised its national imperatives and security obligations, is now engaged in discussions with key interlocutors on a range of issues, including the CTBT... We are prepared to bring these discussions to a successful conclusion, so that the entry into force of the CTBT is not delayed beyond September 1999."

Most countries welcomed the two countries' stated intention to accept, albeit with conditions, the CTBT. The U.S' reaction, however, was muted: Washington had expected a firmer commitment to the CTBT from the two countries.

Sharif's address to the General Assembly repeated some of Islamabad's familiar charges against India in respect of Kashmir. Sharif sought the "effective intervention" of the U.N. and its Secretary-General to resolve the dispute in Pakistan's favour. His comments on Kashmir, made soon after the agreement with Vajpayee on the resumption of the official-level dialogue, underlines the difficulties ahead when the Foreign Secretaries resume their dialogue in mid-October.

In his address, Vajpayee did not respond to Sharif's charges vis-a-vis Kashmir, but focussed on the issue of terrorism and indirectly alluded to Islamabad's abetment of terrorism in Kashmir. He said: "We have had to cope with terrorism aided and abetted by a neighbouring country for nearly two decades. We have borne this with patience, but none should doubt the strength of our resolve to crush this challenge."

Details of the discussions between Vajpayee and Sharif were not divulged, but their agreement to revive the stalled dialogue was set out in a communique put out after overnight talks between Foreign Secretaries K. Raghunath and Shamshad Ahmad. It stated that at the official-level talks, the two Foreign Secretaries would take up issues of peace and security, including confidence-building measures, and the question of Jammu and Kashmir. The Defence Secretaries would discuss the Siachen issue as well. The subjects of drugs and terrorism will be dealt with by the Home Secretaries, and economic and commercial issues by the Commerce Secretaries. The Secretaries for Culture will discuss how best friendly exchanges could be promoted.

Vajpayee also held meetings with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and several visiting heads of government. In his talks with Annan, Vajpayee said that the references in the Secretary-General's recent report to "tensions" over Kashmir between India and Pakistan, particularly after the nuclear tests in May, were off the mark. There was no "tension" in Kashmir, he said; as evidence of this he pointed to the upswing in tourism in the valley this year.

Of particular interest was a meeting between Vajpayee and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the first between the Prime Ministers of the two countries. Significantly, the two countries agreed to cooperate in the area of combating terrorism and to strengthen cooperation on the trade and economic fronts.

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