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Australia asks for a special session of the U.N. General Assembly to endorse Test-ban -- India says it has no intention of developing a nuclear arsenal.

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA: Australia today formally asked for a special session of the United Nations General Assembly in September for the purpose of endorsing the draft Test-ban Treaty vetoed at the Conference on Disarmament Talks on Tuesday by India. The five declared nuclear weapons states had been considering having Australia spearhead efforts to by pass India's veto and take the treaty to the U.N..

With Australia's action today the stage is set for a showdown over the Ramaker draft treaty on the floor of the U.N.. Indian External Affairs Minister I K Gujral at a news conference in New Delhi was asked what India will do when the Test-ban goes before the U.N.. He replied that India, "would deal with the situation as it arises."

NEW DELHI, INDIA: In a press conference today Indian External Affairs Minister I K Gujral announced and made clear that India had no intention of developing a nuclear arsenal or of acquiring other sophisticated weapons following its veto of the Test-ban Treaty text at the Conference on Disarmament this week. He said that although India had demonstrated its capability to develop nuclear devices in 1974 it had exercised unparalleled restraint in not manufacturing nuclear weapons.

The announcement by Gujral cuts at the heart of the prime charge leveled at India following its veto of the Test-ban on Tuesday, that being that the true reason for India's opposition was its desire to keep open the option of developing and deploying nuclear weapons of its own. Some of the strongest charges of this nature had been made by Ambassador Stephen J. Ledogar, the leader of the United States delegation to the CD talks immediately following India's veto.

In view of India's statement today it is of interest to note the strange manner in which the U.S. State Department spokesman at Thursday's daily briefing had tried to distance the State Department from Ambassador Ledogar's comments, stating at one point, "I don't think it serves us to try and psychoanalyze why India is taking the steps it is taking. We will share those thoughts with the Indians directly, to be sure. But publicly, we're going to put our efforts into getting the Test Ban Treaty forward to New York"

UPDATE ON TEST-BAN DEBATE AND RELATED ISSUES

AUGUST 22, 1996

Test-Ban Talks suffers another major set back as India vetoes final report. Iran boldly joins opposition.

By: J Truman
August 22, 1996

As if adding insult to injury India today dealt the Conference on Disarmament (CD) Talks on a global Test-ban another devastating set back. Making clear that its fight against the proposed Test-ban Treaty drafted by CD Chairman Jaap Ramaker is far from over, India formally vetoed the conference's final report on its 2 1/2 year effort. The veto prevents the CD from forwarding the report on to the United Nations in New York. India's veto of the report's transmission came only days after a similar veto had killed formal acceptance of the draft Treaty by the CD, and means that the CD can not even formally inform the U.N General Assembly that it has failed its mission.

Diplomats at the 61 nation talks were surprised and extremely frustrated by India's veto of the report. Ambassador Stephen J. Ledogar, the leader of the United States delegation reacted sharply, "It's very disappointing. Not only has the substance been vetoed, but now we had a veto of the historical record."

The five nuclear powers -- the U.S., Russia, China, France, and Britain -- and other treaty supporters, namely Australia vowed to take the fight to the full U.N. General Assembly and see the treaty signed in September. Australian Ambassador Richard Starr said that, "We have a workable treaty. All the debates about procedure do not obscure the fact that we have .. a commitment from the five nuclear states to endorse and sign it. We have worked for this situation for years and years and years. We cannot give up. The opportunity is here and now. It will not last."

Another surprising development at today's talks was the strong opposition to the report raised by Iran. The final vote was delayed first by Iranian opposition and demands that the treaty be changed. It appeared that Iran itself would veto it, but Iran finally backed down, leaving that to India.

While the supporters of the Ramaker draft treaty continue to express the belief that it can easily be taken to the U.N. next month the real situation remains anything but clear. Even the U.S. State Department at its daily breifing was having a hard time answering reporter's questions about just what was going to be done to get the Test-ban before the full U.N.. The State Department also faced difficulty in explaining why the Ramaker Treaty version was so sacred and impossible to re-open for change in an attempt to reach a compromise with India, when it already had been tampered with on behalf of China. Refusing to answer why the option of changing the text in some symbolic way to accommodate India was not acceptable, State Department spokesman Davis did say regarding China's changes to the Ramaker text that, "we absolutely had to --"we", again the international community, not that I've just been elected spokesman for the world here. We, the United States, understood that we had to ensure that the Chinese would support this."

The refusal to consider a similar willingness to address India's concerns may yet spell doom for any Test-ban Treaty this year, and could see the entire process fall apart, leading to an end of the current moratorium on testing. India remains steadfastly opposed to the treaty as it now stands, and maintains it will not sign it,"now, next week, next year, in three years, or in ten." Without India signing, Pakistan has made it just as clear it will not sign, and China too, on numerous occasions, has made the point that without India and Pakistan on board it will not likely stay on board either. Similar concerns could likely prevent ratification of the treaty by the required number of nations needed for it to go into force, even if it reaches the U.N. and is signed next month.

Today's showdown at the CD is just one more indication that perhaps it is time to stop exploring ways to ram the Ramaker Test-ban treaty draft through the U.N for quick signing, and instead start exploring ways to insure that the entire four decade old dream of a global Test-ban doesn't go down the drain along with the Ramaker text. The world's diplomatic community perhaps should not forget the point made by Australia's spokesman today, "We have worked for this situation for years and years and years. We cannot give up. The opportunity is here and now. It will not last."

The question that remains to be answered is, with a heated, protracted, and ugly fight at the U.N., will the opportunity last?

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