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US won't persuade 'very special friends' India, Pak to sign NPT | Bracketing both India and Pakistan as its 'very special friends', the United States has said that it would not pressurise these countries to sign the nuclear
non-proliferation treaty (NPT). Interacting with media persons during a press
briefing here, US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International
Security Ellen Tauscher said the Obama Administration is in direct touch with
both India and Pakistan over such issues and holds daily conversations with them.
"The countries that you mentioned are very special friends of the United States.
We have conversations with them every day about many different things," Tauscher
said while responding to a question that whether the US would persuade New Delhi
and Islamabad to sign the NPT. She, however, added: "We would like all countries
to sign onto the NPT. We have a universality commitment, yes." The top US official
also warned that the world was facing more danger than it was during the Cold
War era, as more and more countries are competing to acquire nuke know-how. "We
have terrorist groups and organised crime and other bad actors that are looking
to acquire nuclear technology, nuclear know-how and nuclear material. And secondarily,
we have more states looking to acquire nuclear weapons than we have had in the
last 15 years," The Dawn quoted Tauscher, as saying. When asked that if the White
House feels that both India and Pakistan must cut down their nuclear arms race
and reduce the stockpile of the weapons of mass destruction (WMD), Tauscher opted
for a more diplomatic reply and said her views as a lawmaker were very different
from her views as a senior US official. "Congresswoman Tauscher and Under Secretary
Tauscher occupy the same body but not in the same time. What I did in the Congress
was one thing, and I get quite used to accepting when things pass and letting
them go on," Tauscher, who had strongly opposed the Indo-US civil nuclear deal,
said. She also acknowledged that Washington shares a significant relationship
with New Delhi, and that being the under-secretary it was now her duty to implement
the India-US nuclear accord. "I'm very honoured to have been in India late last
year, we have a very vibrant and very significant relationship with India," Tauscher
said. |
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