Zero deterrence would be fine8217;

He said he did not expect further nuclear tests by India, something Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif recently expressed concern about.Talbott, who returned recently from a tour of the region, where he had talks with leaders of India and Pakistan on the nuclear issue, said he had 8220;a clearer sense now of not only what he two Prime Ministers want to achieve, working with their parliaments, but also a rough calendar onwhen they might be able to achieve it.8221; Talbott declined to be specific, but said his latest trip to New Delhi and Islamabad had achieved enough progress to warrant planning for a ninth round of talks on non-proliferation with the two countries.

Another report quotes State Departmen spokesman James Rubin as saying that India8217;s concept of 8220;credible minimum nuclear deterrence8221; appears to be an enigma for the US, compelling it to ask for its definition. 8220;I don8217;t see any inconsistency in asking the Indians to define one of their own terms, and our determination to see India and Pakistan join the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty CTBT and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty NPT, Rubin said in reply to a question yesterday.

He said Indians had used these terms. 8220;If Talbott 8211; and I take you the corespondent who asked the question at your word, I don8217;t know 8211; has asked them to define words that they used, that strikes me as trying to be probing and understand the views of the other side in a diplomaticdiscussion,8221; he added.

Rubin made these observations in reply to a long question: Talbott has asked India to define what it considers minimum nuclear deterrence for India. What exactly does he mean? Is he hinting that India should keep its nuclear deterrence to the Pak level and not bring it up to the China level? Or is he actually asking India for what it considers its optimum range of missiles and number of warheads? Now, that is the question. Could you please comment? Is this not odd, considering the US is asking India and Pakistan to join the nuclear non-proliferation regime as non-nuclear weapon states?

G-8 may go soft on the subcontinent

TOKYO: Senior officials from the Group of Eight G8 powers and five other countries convened here on Thursday to discuss nuclear developments in India and Pakistan, officials said. The meeting brought together officials from the G8 nations 8212; Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States 8212; as well as Argentina, Australia,Brazil, Ukraine and South Korea. The Tokyo meeting opened amid press reports on a possible resumption of aid to India suspended after New Delhi conducted a series of nuclear tests last May. An Indian report said Monday the G8 had agreed to restore multilateral aid to India by lifting sanctions imposed after the tests, although Japanese officials denied Tokyo was planning to resume aid.