WASHINGTON, JANUARY 20: US President Bill Clinton's top adviser on proliferation John Holum has outlined a two-step plan to "strip" India of its nuclear weapons and ability to make them, and opposed any recognition to New Delhi as a "nuclear power" under the NPT.In the first stage US President Bill Clinton himself will try to persuade India, before and during his visit to Delhi, to sign the CTBT, allowing New Delhi to retain a nuclear deterrent - nuclear weapons and missiles ready to be fired but taking away its right to test anew, Holum said.The next step would be to pressure India to join the NPTAS a non-nuclear weapon power, he said, in a state department worldnet programme. The same would apply to Pakistan, he said.Holum was quite frank about the role that he expects President Clinton to play to sell CTBT to India. He said "so there has been a diplomatic effort (Strobe Talbott-Jaswant Singh talks) underway. The CTBT signature would be an important part of that, something the president willcertainly place a heavy emphasis on both in the time leading up to his trip and then when he does go to India.""In terms of India and Pakistan, what we and others need to continue doing and I know Japan, China and Australia and many other countries have all been involved in this effort is to press the case with both India and Pakistan that ratification and joining the comprehensive test ban treaty is in their interests, because it helps avoid any further escalation of a potentially dangerous arms race in the region." "Now, our credibility unquestionably has been damaged to some degree (by the rejection of the CTBT by the US senate)," Holum said."We would much rather be saying to the Indians and Pakistanis: we have ratified this treaty, we encourage you to do the same. Many other countries in the world can make that point, including both Japan and Australia. But we need to be making that argument, that it is in their own best interests."Now we are down to a (nuclear non-proliferation) treaty that hasjust four states outside - India, Pakistan, Israel and Cuba. So the (NPT) regime is strong."What concerns me now is the danger to the regime that has been posed by the tests in South Asia. And so, a very important part of our collective effort to reinforce the NPT, it seems to me, has to be to address that very real and very dangerous situation in South Asia."He, however, shot down a suggestion that India and Pakistan could be accommodated in the NPT as nuclear powers saying: "It is not possible under the treaty we don't support it (either). There is a reality on the ground in India and Pakistan (but) we are not prepared, and I don't think the members of the NPT would accept it".
