Tests over, let8217;s talk: Pakistan

8220;The government of Pakistan expresses the hope that India will reciprocate and contribute towards creating a conducive regional environment by taking further effective steps to overcome the security crisis and promote durable peace in South Asia,8221; the statement, issued by the Foreign Ministry, in Islamabad said.

It said the resumption of dialogue will be 8220;on the basis of the agreement reached between the two countries on June 23 lastyear.8221;

Under this agreement, signed by the Foreign Secretaries of both sides, eight outstanding issues had been identified, including peace and security followed by Kashmir. Both sides have had their own interpretations. While Islamabad claims the agreement was to form working groups on all the eight issues, New Delhi8217;s line is that groups should be set up for six issues while peace and security and Kashmir be discussed at the Foreign Secretary-level.

Pakistan8217;s offer comes a day before the G-8 meeting in London, which is expected to pull up like the P-5 and the Security Council both India and Pakistan for going nuclear.

Incidentally, India had announced a voluntary moratorium on nuclear testing soon after the tests and had reiterated its intention to participate in the Conference on Disarmament on negotiating a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty FMCT.

In Parliament later, Prime Minister Vajpayee had accepted 8220;de jure formalisation8221; of current status, virtually announcing that India would abide bythe main conditions of the CTBT.

Today8217;s announcement is seen here as an attempt at reasonableness to calm down the US and other G-8 powers. The offer for a 8220;no-test-agreement8221; with India is apparently aimed at silencing Western criticism that Pakistan is not a 8220;responsible8221; nuclear weapons state.

Significantly, the Islamabad statement ignores New Delhi8217;s offer on a 8220;no-first-strike8221; agreement made some weeks ago. It also says nothing about participating in talks towards the FMCT.

Madeleine Albright, in Washington yesterday, had emphasised that the US has been pressing for negotiations on the FMCT. 8220;We are pleased that India has now said it is willing to participate in these negotiations. We believe Pakistan should follow suit,8221; she said.

Even as Pakistan8217;s offer came, Gohar Ayub Khan was his characteristic fiery self. Claiming that the dispute with India over Kashmir could trigger an Indo-Pakistan nuclear war 8220;at any time,8221; he said: 8220;Occupied Kashmir today constitutes the world8217;s onlymajor flashpoint.8221;

Khan said tension is further heightened by the fact that nerves are raw on both sides. 8220;And who on earth will determine whether that missile is tipped with a conventional or nuclear warhead?8221; he asked. Khan said that India could fire its Prithvi missile at Pakistan and they could hit targets 8220;within four minutes of launch.8221;

8220;The fourth war will be very costly for India, very costly because of the systems Pakistan has,8221; he said, adding: 8220;Pakistan might be able to absorb the damage but India will never be able to. The end result will be that both of us will be badly savaged, badly mauled, but in that process India will go down very badly.8221;

He said he hoped that talks between the two Prime Ministers in Sri Lanka next month 8220;would lay the foundations for real negotiations on the dispute.8221;

However, he argued for a third party8217;s role, either Japan or the USA. 8220;If we want to make progress, we have to have third party mediation to assist us,8221; he said. Pakistan was lookingforward to real talks and not talks for talks sake and propaganda.

Later, speaking on nationwide television, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced wide-ranging austerity measures, incentives for the agriculture sector, loans for the middle-class.

Sharif urged Pakistanis to drink less tea and use less ghee since these were imported by Pakistan. He also appealed to overseas Pakistanis to send money home through banking channels.