NEW DELHI The Clinton administration, during its second
term in office, would continue to delink India and Pakistan in
its South Asia policy and pursue good relations with both, outgoing
US Assistant Secretary of State Robin Raphel said in New Delhi
on Tuesday (4th February).
"Nawaz Sharif during his prime ministership had met the then
Indian premier P.V. Narasimha Rao and now we will encourage both
sides to move in the direction of a constructive dialogue,"
Raphel told a news conference.
Sharif indicated on the eve of the Pakistani general elections
that he would resume bilateral talks with India stalled
since 1994 if he returned to power.
Ties are clouded by irritants such as the disputed state of Kashmir,
mutual charges of espionage and of covertly carrying out a nuclear
arms programme.
Raphel reiterated that Washington would try to get India to sign
the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
"It is still on our agenda," she said, adding: "It
is a good treaty and it would be in India's interest to sign it.
However, India is a sovereign country and it is for New Delhi
to decide whether to sign it or not."
India was the sole country thought to possess nuclear capabilities
that opposed the notest treaty, both during August multilateral
negotiations and then during debate of a CTBT resolution adopted
by the UN General Assembly in September.
New Delhi has refused to sign CTBT undermining its
intended global moratorium saying the agreement should
also incorporate a call for total nuclear disarmament.
Raphel reiterated that "we have our interests here."
In Houston, the US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, during
a visit to a school earlier Friday (7th February), turned her
attention to India, saying it was "a very good place for
US businessmen but a lot of the problems we have are about nuclear
proliferation."
Albright said, "We are going to be working to get India on
board."
She also said the United States is hoping India and Pakistan will
meet to discuss Kashmir, the troubled territory divided between
Pakistani and Indian control. "We would like for (India)
to talk with Pakistan about Kashmir," she said. --AFP