Sign CTBT unconditionally: USA

WASHINGTON, Oct 2 (PTI) — In a hardening of stand towards India and Pakistan, the Clinton Administration has said the two countries must sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), improve bilateral relations and meet other US conditions "unconditionally" before it could consider lifting of sanctions against the two South Asian nations.

"The only relaxation of sanctions now contemplated is easing the agricultural export restrictions for a year", White House press secretary Mike McCurry told mediapersons here last night.

He said the sanction waiver legislation pending before Congress was more narrowly focused. It dealt with agriculture sanctions that were automatically imposed after the nuclear tests by India and Pakistan.

"I believe there would be some relief or the President would be given some flexibility about those sanctions. I also believe the two governments (India and Pakistan) are concerned about economic sanctions and prohibition of certain types of military exchanges and I am not aware of any proposal in Congress to change those sanctions," he said.

On Wednesday, Mr McCurry had said that President Clinton would move to lift sanctions on India and Pakistan only after more progress was achieved in talks with the two countries on the issue of signing the CTBT.

A congressional commission report has said that India has achieved technological autonomy in missile development and the USA and its allies can no longer prevent it from becoming a major missile power.

The commission, said India is developing a number of ballistic missiles from short-range to inter-continental ones, besides the submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) and a short-range surface ship-launched system.

"Its (India’s) programmes and industrial base are now sufficiently advanced that supplier control regimes can affect only the rate of acceleration in India’s programmes,"the commission set up to assess "the ballistic missile threat to the USA said.

Stating that India "continued to benefit from foreign technology and expertise," the commission headed by former Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and including former CIA chief James Woolsey, said New Delhi was in a position to supply material and technical assistance to others."

India’s programme to develop ballistic missiles, said the commission, began in 1983 and grew out of its space-launch programme, "which was based on scout rocket technology acquired from the United States."

"India has acquired and continues to seek Russian, US and western European technology for its missile programmes. Technology and expertise acquired from other states, particularly from Russia, are helping India to accelerate development and increase the sophistication of its missile systems and technology base as well," the report said.

Pointing out that many Indian nationals were educated and worked in the USA, Europe and other advanced nations, it said "some of the knowledge thereby acquired returns to the Indian missile programme."

"India detonated a nuclear device in 1974, conducted a test series in May, 1998, and it is clear that it is developing warheads for its missile systems," the commission said, adding "Indian leaders recently declared that India has developed nuclear weapons for deployment on the Prithvi SRBM and the Agni-plus SRBM."