NEGATIVE/NUCLEAR/PROLIFERATION

INDIA AND PAKISTAN ARE NOT A NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION THREAT

INDIA AND PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAMS CANNOT BE CALLED A "RACE," IT IS TOO SLOW FOR THAT

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel January 28, 2001 SECTION: CROSSROADS; Pg. 02J HEADLINE: Other world hot spots could vex Bush //VT2002acsln

India and Pakistan are in a nuclear arms race, but with both being impoverished nations and new to the competition, the race is more of a mosey than a sprint. The United States will require great effort to merely slow the development of bigger bombs, and missiles of greater endurance.

INDIA'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS STATUS AND STRATEGY DOES NOT THREATEN ITS NEIGHBORS OR THE FIGHT AGAINST NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION

Agence France Presse , August 18, 1999 HEADLINE: India's nuclear programme only aimed at selfdefence: foreign minister // Inu-acs

India's nuclear weapons programme does not threaten any country or disturb the global nonproliferation regime, Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh said Wednesday. Singh told the CNN television channel that the draft of New Delhi's nuclear weapons doctrine published Tuesday, which advocates the development of retaliation capabilities, was essentially non-threatening. "What India has done is acted in its own interest to enhance the strategic space and autonomy that it has. There is no need for anyone to fear from what is after all a discussion paper."

THE POSSIBLITY OF PAKISTANI NUCLEAR WEAPONS TECHNOLOGY BEING TRANSFERRED TO OTHER ARAB STATES IS VERY REMOTE

Juan Romero, Jane's Intelligence Review March 1, 1999; Pg. 32 HEADLINE: Charting reactions to the Islamic bomb //lnu-acs

Israel has voiced concern about the possibility of nuclear technology being transferred to the Middle East from Pakistan. However, this possibility is remote (unless an Islamist government assumes power in Islamabad), partly for the above reasons and partly for other reasons. The Middle Eastern country Israel has in mind is Iran, but Islamabad would probably not venture on transferring nuclear technology to Tehran. The simple reasons are widely divergent interests in the ongoing Afghan civil war and competing economic and political interests in Central Asia. One does not hand over vital military secrets to a rival who could easily be turned into an enemy. Besides, some Gulf states would be rather alarmed at an Iranian nuclear capability provided by Islamabad, which would strain Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) relations with Pakistan and effectively prevent any future loans to Islamabad.

BUSH ADMINISTRATION HAS A BETTER CHANCE WITH INDIA ON PROLIFERATION ISSUES

THE HINDU March 14, 2001 HEADLINE: The Hindu-Editorial: Indo-U.S. dialogue on NMD? //VT2002acsln

AS INDIA prepares to engage the Bush Administration in the next few weeks, there will a renewed focus on the perennial theme of nuclear weapons and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. As it turns out, the advent of the Bush Administration may have opened a real possibility for New Delhi and Washington to change the traditional framework through which they have discussed nuclear questions.