India for Talks with Pakistan, China after N-Tests
     23-MAY-98

     NEW DELHI, May 23 (Reuters) - India on Saturday rebutted tests and
     said they should not hamper confidence-building measures with
     China and Pakistan.

     Sharif said in Islamabad that India was using nuclear tests to
     blackmail Pakistan into dropping its claim to Kashmir and vowed
     that any ``misadventure'' by New Delhi would be countered.

     He accused India of trying to impose a military solution to the
     dispute over Kashmir, cause of two of their border wars, and
     appeared to link an eventual nuclear test by Pakistan to further
     friction over the region.

     ``We are not in the habit of making any misadventures. We are here
     to protect our nation,'' Pramod Mahajan, political adviser to
     Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, told a news conference
     in reaction to Sharif's statements.

     ``We can assure that India is a peace-loving country and we want
     better relations with our neighbours,'' Mahajan said.

     Defence Minister George Fernandes said in the eastern city of
     Calcutta that the tests should not hamper confidence-building
     measures with China and Pakistan.

     ``Confidence-building measures will continue and I think the
     nuclear tests should not come in the way of any kind of talks
     between India and China and between India and Pakistan,''
     Fernandes told a news conference.

     India stunned the world last week with five underground nuclear
     explosions, its first tests since 1974.

     The defence minister evaded a question on a moratorium on nuclear
     tests as announced by Brajesh Mishra, the principal secretary of
     Prime Minister Vajpayee, but said ``the country has always kept
     its nuclear options open and there has been no change in the
     policy so far.''

     Fernandes said India would not sign the Comprehensive Test Ban
     Treaty (CTBT) unless what he called existing discriminatory
     provisions were eliminated.

     ``Technically, India should be a part of nuclear weapon
     states...we are not going to sign the CTBT in its present form,''
     he said.

     He said there was no harm in discussing the CTBT. ``Since
     everybody is saying that we should sign the CTBT we are saying we
     will discuss it.''

     Fernandes criticised the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT),
     saying it was full of contradictions.

     He said he had received an invitation from U.S. Defence Secretary
     William Cohen to visit Washington. ``I have not applied my mind
     whether I should accept the invitation,'' he said.

     He defended India's nuclear tests, saying: ``We are concerned
     about our defence and we have done the right thing.

     ``There is no political compulsion in going for nuclear tests. We
     did it because of the threat perception.''

     Answering a question on border disputes with China, he said a
     settlement could be arrived at only through discussions.

     ``We have long been discussing the issue and working groups have
     been formed. We have to continue the discussions. Only then can a
     settlement be arrived (at).''