Pressler hails Gujral Doctrine

“I am pleased to see that talks between India and Pakistan are going on. US cannot solve the problem in the region and so we should not become a part of this,” he added.

Pressler, widely seen in India as a champion of disarmament, is the author of the famous 1985 Pressler amendment that prohibited Washington from giving aid to any country making nuclear weapons. In 1990, President George Bush cut off aid to Pakistan after it was proved that the country had nuclear capabilities. “If the US government repeals the Pressler amendment then I’m worried that it will activate the arms race in the sub-continent,” he said.

But the Senator warned that unlike the Indian community in the US that was “interested in many issues”, the Pakistani community concentrated on one thing : the repeal of Pressler amendment.

He admitted that with the end of the Cold War, many more countries around the world had become nuclear-capable and that the situation was most dangerous in the Indian sub-continent. “If one of them makes a mistake, it will result in a nuclear holocaust,” he added.

Pressler refrained from commenting on the latest round of dialogue between India and Pakistan, but praised the Indian Prime Minister for his Gujral Doctrine’ which he said gave India a reason to be generous towards its smaller neighbours.

He added that the world was watching Hong Kong being peacefully turned over to China with awe’. “If they can do that successfully, surely India and Pakistan can also find their way to peace,” he added.

Vivek Goenka, chairman of the Ramnath Goenka Memorial Foundation and Trust, pointed out in his inaugural remarks that even as India and Pakistan were attempting to bring about a cordial atmosphere in bilateral relations, selective leaks from the US, like the recent one on the Prithvi’ missile, would only “hinder this process and encourage the return of a climate of suspicion.”

He said the The Indian Express would not give up its tradition of journalism of courage’ that Ramnath Goenka had so painstakingly built.

Bearing the mantle of a man of Ramnath Goenka’s stature, he said, was never easy – though not as difficult as breaking the Indo-Pakistan impasse.

Eminent jurist and former ambassador to the US, Nani Palkhivala, said wise men from both countries should put their minds together and overcome the mistrust generated over the last fifty years.