WASHINGTON, March 26: The US Commerce Department has warned both India and Pakistan to refrain from promoting nuclear weapons programmes as otherwise the United States would have to revisit its controls.``Both the countries should avoid any development of nuclear weapons,'' a Commerce Department official, requesting anonymity said in a New York-based Journal of Commerce.It may be mentioned that the Commerce Department has reacted sharply compared to the US State Department.A State Department spokesman had earlier said that Bharatiay Janata Party-led government was representing the new threshold on nuclear issue.John Steinbruner, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told the Journal that Washington is worried about sale of nuclear and missile technology to Pakistan by China.But US policy has favoured Islamabad since the 1970's when its help was needed against Russia during the war in Afghanistan.``The neglect of India,'' said Steinbruner, ``has left the United States with littleleverage over its behaviour on its nuclear potential because India's nuclear sector has advanced without US exports.``Further unilateral controls may be useless to stop weapons development. The best hope is through diplomatic attention to its government, not export curbs,'' Steinbruner said.Gary Milholin, director of the Wisconsin University project on nuclear arms control, said that the Commerce Department should make it clear that ``if either India or Pakistan conducts a nuclear test, all end-users will go on the US entity list of known proliferators.''The current list, he said, only scratches the surface of the nuclear programmes in India and Pakistan.BEIJING: Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan told the top US arms negotiator that China wanted to work out differences over weapons controls, State-run media reported today.Tang and acting Undersecretary of State John Holum held discussions on arms control and other issues yesterday to prepare for US President Bill Clinton's June visit toBeijing.The Clinton Administration reportedly is preparing to offer China access to missile technology if Beijing halts missile exports to Pakistan, Iran and other countries. An agreement could be signed during Clinton's visit.Tang told Holum that although Beijing and Washington have common concerns on weapons proliferation, differences remain, the Xinhua news agency reported. Tang reportedly added that China was ``fully prepared'' to discuss the differences.Holum discussed security and arms control issues yesterday with Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Deguang. He was to meet Major General Xiong Guangkai, Deputy Chief of Staff of the People's Liberation Army.China strengthened controls on nuclear weapons technology exports in the past year after persistent criticisms from Washington that Beijing was aiding clandestine nuclear programs in Pakistan and Iran.China's progress gave Clinton the opportunity to revive a long-stalled agreement on nuclear energy cooperation during his October summit withChinese President Jiang Zemin in Washington. The pact, if certified by Congress, allows US businesses to invest in Chinese nuclear power projects.The Clinton administration maintains that China has been responsive to US concerns on weapons proliferation. Clinton said earlier this month that US objections stopped China from negotiating the sale to Iran of a chemical used to develop nuclear weapons.
