Indian defence budget worries China

BEIJING, JUNE 6: China today urged India to make a wise'' move by renouncing its nuclear weapons programme and commented that a 14 per cen...

BEIJING, JUNE 6: China today urged India to make a 8220;wise8221; move by renouncing its nuclear weapons programme and commented that a 14 per cent hike in its defence budget this year is an 8220;unwise8221; decision which will further escalate arms race in South Asia.

8220;Such a rise in defence spending reveals the South Asian country8217;s ambition to be a military power and is adding fuel to the already heated arms race,8221; the official China Daily alleged in a signed editorial as part of the state-sponsored diatribe against India8217; gatecrash into the exclusive nuclear club.

While India8217;s proposed defence outlay is only 2.5 per cent of its GDP, China has increased its defence spending by 12 per cent this year.

8220;It is unwise for the Indian government to develop nuclear weapons and raise defence spending with no regard for its relations with the international community,8221; it says. The newspaper, China8217;s only English-language daily, claimed that the Indian government has decided to raise defence spending beyond the 14 percent increase in its national budget.

It termed as a 8220;concocted excuse8221; for armament Defence Minister George Fernandes8217; statement in Parliament this week that 8220;China has occupied a total of 38,000 sq km of Indian territory.8221;

8220;That defence minister has been making up stories labelling China as India8217;s most serious threat since early April,8221; the editorial said adding that by doing so Fernandes was trying to justify India8217;s nuclear tests.

The editorial alleged that the Indian government 8220;fooled8221; its public and 8220;cheated8221; the world with the excuse of resorting to nuclear tests to ensure its national security.

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Expressing China8217;s disappointment with India8217;s nuclear tests, the paper says that the world once hoped that India, 8220;as a promising power with steady economic growth in South Asia, would contribute to regional stability.8221;

Stating that 8220;India has let the world and peace-loving people down by brandishing its military power8221; it asked New Delhi to heed the world opinion that 8220;nuclearweapons can win no war.8221;

8220;The world is awaiting a wise change of mind from the India government: Giving up its nuclear plan and making economic growth its top agenda for building itself into a real power that is committed to stability in South Asia and world peace.8221;

Yesterday, China8217;s powerful military establishment lashed out at Fernandes, accusing him of recklessly using China8217;s name as an8220;excuse8221; for India8217;s nuclear programme and warned New Delhi of serious consequences.

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Clinton made India go nuclear8217;
WASHINGTON: US President Bill Clinton8217;s courting of China and his adherence to the discriminatory8217; Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty NPT compelled India to go in for the nuclear tests, write columnists in The Washington Post.

Clinton8217;s 8220;shameless8221; courting of China and his Secretary of State Madeleine Albright8217;s claim of a 8220;strategic partnership8221; to have a strategic relationship with China made India to go nuclear, write columnist Charles Krauthammer.

Another Post columnist,Stephen S. Rosenfeld, writes that the NPT is undoubtedly discriminatory and the Clinton administration made it worse by ignoring and slighting India. Approving India8217;s stand on NPT, the columnist writes that the treaty is one-sided and discriminatory, exactly as the Indians charge. It is time, says Rosenfeld, to consider some new arrangements.