Africa Backs India'S Stand On Ctbt
Foreign secretary Salman Haidar told reporters here yesterday that India will vote against the resolution after the general debate on the subject ends at the general assembly today.
India will cast a negative vote, Haidar said, adding that New Delhi's permanent representative at the UN Prakash Shah had also presented a set of amendments to the draft treaty which will be circulated as a document of the general assembly. The Australian resolution was introduced at the resumed 50th session of the UN general assembly on Monday, along with 126 co-sponsors, after which a general debate commenced on the issue. India will not introduce separate amendments to the text because they are likely to be shot down, but will submit them as part of a document to the general assembly.
When the debate concludes after about 30 nations have spoken today, the voting on the CTBT will take place, when the draft text is likely to be adopted. After this the secretary-general will open the treaty for signature. The signing ceremony is likely to take place either on September 24 or September 29, at which US president Bill Clinton will be present. The foreign secretary reiterated that since India's name remains on the list of 44 countries who must ratify the treaty before it comes into force, and since India is not going to ratify such a discriminatory treaty, the CTBT cannot be implemented. We have said that we are not going to be a signatory to the treaty unless the entry into force clause is substantially altered...(and therefore) the treaty cannot come into effect, Haidar said.
A large number of Asian and African countries have openly supported India's stand on the CTBT. All South Asian countries, including Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal have supported India. In south-east Asia, only Singapore, Thailand and Philippines are in favour of the CTBT resolution, while Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam are against it. All Gulf countries except Bahrain and Qatar are in favour of India's stand.
In Africa, Francophone Africa and South Africa have supported the CTBT, while countries like Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe are against the resolution. While in Latin America, Brazil and Mexico have come out in favour of India.
Malaysia has called the Australian resolution an unusual procedure which undermines the disarmament conference in Geneva and the draft CTBT text essentially flawed. Indonesia has termed Australia's move an unprecedented step, while Sri Lanka has said the text falls short of being complete.
Haidar said Australia's move in introducing the resolution on the CTBT was a predictable one, that the ministry had known a long time ago that it might happen and that this had now materialised.
He rejected outright, however, that this might affect bilateral relations with Australia. We have said on a number of occasions and situations that we don't expect and don't intend that different positions on the CTBT will affect relations with individual countries, Haidar said.