960420

Lodhi opposes acceptance

of non-proliferation

regime unilaterally

SIKANDER HAYAT

ISLAMABAD: Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi has argued against giving Washington the central position in Pakistan's foreign policy, lending credence to reports of widening divergence over vital bilateral Pak-US matters, particularly the nuclear.

She reportedly told journalists at a media function in Rawalpindi on Friday that there was no question of Pakistan accepting non-proliferation regime on its nuclear programme unilaterally. "In this background, the Islamic Bomb is our identity, which is a unique position in the international community".

Dr Lodhi also held out the assurance that Pakistan has not allowed the installation of American nuclear-monitoring system on its soil, "neither will this happen, and, nor is this possible". She said, both the government and the opposition have complete consensus on the way Pakistan should run its nuclear programme.

Ambassador Lodhi's rather frank exposition of Pakistan's nuclear position has come at a time when the United States has raised its pressure on Pakistan to unilaterally accept the Washington-led Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. American Senior Diplomat Robin Raphel took up this issue with Foreign Secretary Najmuddin Shaikh in their meeting here last week.

Shaikh later told journalists that he had apprised the American Assistant Secretary of State of Pakistan's concerns about the "scope" of the inspections the CTBT envisages as its monitoring regime to detect that the signatories to the treaty were faithfully carrying out the dictates of the CTBT.

Foreign Minister Aseff Ahmed Ali, a few days back, had also told reporters that Pakistan would like to seek clarification about the scope of the CTBT, including what did the framers of the proposed treaty mean by "on-site inspections" and "international monitoring system".

Speaking candidly, Maleeha Lodhi said: "If the United States were a real superpower, it would not have put up with Iran's repeated defiance". "United States may be a powerful country, but it is not a superpower. We need not be afraid of it".

Maleeha Lodhi's remarks about the United States stand in sharp contrast to what Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has said at a recent news conference. She prided herself in being able to establish 'very friendly relations' with the US which she described as the "sole superpower in the post-Cold War era".

However, the Washington's nuclear policy for South Asia remains unchanged. Repeating President Clinton's assertion about 1944 at the United Nations, a policy paper of the White House, released recently, says "The United States seeks to cap, reduce and, ultimately, eliminate the nuclear and missile capabilities of India and Pakistan". There is no proviso in the American policy that the two countries are expected to do simultaneously.

Gary Molihan, an American specialist on the nuclear programmes of Pakistan, India and Israel, recently wrote that Pakistan need not go for testing of its nuclear device, because the design of the device has laready been tested by the Chinese who he alleged helped Pakistan in this.

Then, could it be that Pakistan would not hestitate signing the CTBT provided the scope of the treaty covers only the testing. However, except the political postion taken since long that "Pakistan will sign the CTBT only if India does" there is no discussion on this vital issue, which is going to become far more important in the Pak-US relationship in the days to come.

United States expects Pakistan to sign the test ban treaty which is now being negotiated at Geneva. Additionally, it expects Pakistan to sign a fissile material cutoff treaty which will follow the CTBT.