India ‘can have N-deterrent’
USA to further cut entities list

WASHINGTON, Dec 21 (PTI) — India can have a minimum nuclear deterrent “at the level it chooses” even if New Delhi signs the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), a senior US State Department official has said.

“The USA well understands that the level of that minimum deterrent (of nuclear and/or thermonuclear weapons and missiles and other means of delivery) will change according to India’s own perception of its changing security environment,” the official, who insisted on anonymity, told Indian and Pakistani reporters at a special year-end briefing last evening.

“The CTBT only bars further testing. It has no say on whether a signatory has or builds a nuclear deterrent,” he noted.

The official, who is privy to the ongoing Indo-US talks, said: “We have made it clear to the Indian Government that there are no secret understandings or conditions with respect to our adherence to the CTBT and our signature nor are there any P-5 (the five permanent members of the Security Council) secret understandings.

“Everything that we have agreed to with respect to this treaty in terms of the list of permitted activities under the treaty can be found in the US Senate document on the CTBT. There is nothing that is not publicly available through the transmittal letter of the then President and through the section-by-section analysis of the treaty as understood by the USA or the P-5 and by all signatories on what activities are or are not permitted,” he said.

The issue of the CTBT and minimum deterrence was brought up by a correspondent who asked, “if India signs the CTBT, can it still have a minimum nuclear deterrent?”

“The answer is yes, an emphatic yes,” the official replied, however, maintaining that the USA was closely watching the efforts being made by New Delhi towards a national consensus on signing the CTBT.

The official also recognised that the mix in the (minimum nuclear) deterrent India chose to have would change according to changing needs.

The USA will over time further reduce the entities list for New Delhi as “we consider India one of our good friends,”a senior State Department official has said.

“I expect that over time there will be further adjustments to the entities list both in terms of the numbers as well as the coverage of the licensing element here yesterday.

He pointed that that under the recent legislation a report on this is due to Congress by December 25, The Commerce Department, he said, has been very, very cooperative in bringing about a reduction in the entities list.

NEW DELHI (UNI): India today expressed appreciation for the Clinton administration’s acknowledgement of New Delhi’s right to have a minimum nuclear deterrent and termed it as a statement of “self evident truth.”

An External Affairs Ministry spokesman said, “It is for us (India) to define credible minimum nuclear deterrent.”

The spokesman said India’s discussion with its interlocutors, including the USA, had been predicated on the fact that it would have a credible minimum nuclear deterrent.

He said official level talks with the USA were mainly aimed at harmonising perceptions on various issues.

Referring to the visit of two joint secretaries of the ministry to Washington, the spokesman said the purpose was to look at the nitty gritty of the issues and report back to the principals.