Date: Thu, 12 Sep 1996 11:35:15 
 
X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.0 -- ListProcessor(tm) by CREN
Status: R

11 Sept 1996 (Reuter) - While most of the world hailed the
global nuclear test ban treaty, India dug in its heels
Wednesday, saying it will resist the U.N.-approved accord just
as its spiritual founder Mahatma Gandhi stood up to British
rule. ``We shall not sign the treaty,'' Foreign Minister Inder
Kumar Gujral told the upper house of parliament, where
lawmakers expressed their approval with the loud thumping of
desks. 


11 Sept 1996 (Reuter) - China on Wednesday welcomed the
nuclear test ban treaty passed by the United Nations, and took
the rare step of urging worldwide accession to the pact,
hinting that India should end its opposition. China hoped the
treaty would be signed as soon as possible and would be
``acceded to and honoured worldwide,'' Foreign Ministry
Spokesman Shen Guofang said, in a clear call to India.


11 Sept 1996 (Reuter) - The United States thanked the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for its support
in the U.N. General Assembly vote against nuclear testing,
delegates to a U.S.-ASEAN dialogue said on Wednesday. All
seven ASEAN members backed the Australian resolution
supporting the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
The General Assembly passed the treaty by a vote of 158-3 on
Tuesday with India, Bhutan and Libya voting against it. The
treaty does not come into force until 44 nations with nuclear
power reactors sign the document and ratify it through their
parliaments. 


11 Sep 1996 (Reuter) - Most of Asia on Wednesday welcomed the
U.N. General Assembly's approval of a treaty banning nuclear
explosions as a flawed but necessary pact, although India
vowed to continue fighting the deal. Pakistan, which has
fought three wars with neighbouring India since 1947, says
although it voted in favour of the treaty on Tuesday it will
not sign the CTBT unless India does the same. 


10 Sep 1996 (UPI) -- The General Assembly overwhelmingly
adopted a worldwide ban on nuclear test explosions, but
enactment of the accord remains uncertain because of fierce
opposition from India. With 158 votes in favor, the U.N.
assembly adopted the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
Only India, Bhutan and Libya voted against and five nations --
Cuba, Lebanon, Tanzania, Syria and Mauritius -- abstained. The
treaty was denounced by dozens of countries for its
shortcomings. It seeks to ban all nuclear explosions, but not
computer-simulated or laboratory tests.


11 Sep 1996 (Reuter) - European Union president Ireland said
on Wednesday it welcomed the U.N. endorsement of a nuclear
test ban treaty but added that it was only one step towards
nuclear disarmament. ``As presidency of the European Union,
Ireland gave expression to the firm support and commitment of
the Union to this treaty,'' Irish Foreign Minister Dick Spring
said in a statement. 


11 Sep 1996 (Reuter) - Is the global treaty banning nuclear
tests a worthless piece of paper that will never become law,
or a landmark in the history of arms control and protection of
the environment? ``We have a global acceptance that there will
be no more nuclear tests,'' said Eric Arnett of the Stockholm
International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). ``That has
been strengthened by the U.N. endorsement. The fact that we
don't have the full legal force of the treaty probably doesn't
matter that much.''  Patricia Lewis of the Verification
Technology Information Centre (VERTIC) in London said the
treaty contained provisions for on-site inspections that would
be vital to establish what had happened in certain cases. ``A
country could have a very small test and we could not be sure
what had happened without on-site inspections,'' said Lewis. 


11 Sep 1996 (Reuter) - President Jacques Chirac said on
Wednesday that France would sign a treaty aimed at outlawing
nuclear tests on September 24, the earliest day possible, and
hailed the U.N. pact as a turning point in the arms race. New
Delhi voted against the treaty. Foreign Minister Herve de
Charette suggested security guarantees to win the approval of
India. ``I think the next step will be to go and hold talks
with the Indians, to understand their security problems and to
provide the necessary guarantees,'' de Charette told Europe 1
radio.


11 Sep 1996 (Reuter) - Germany welcomed on Wednesday the
United Nations' adoption of a nuclear test ban treaty, but
warned that there were still important hurdles standing in the
way of a complete halt to global nuclear testing. Foreign
Minister Klaus Kinkel said the General Assembly's 153-3 vote
on the treaty which would ban nuclear explosions forever was
an ``historic breakthrough on the road to a complete test
ban.''


11 Sep 1996 (Reuter) - Japan on Wednesday welcomed the United
Nations' endorsement of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
(CTBT) as an historic step towards a world free of nuclear
weapons and urged efforts to persuade India to approve the
landmark pact. ``We welcome the (adoption) as an historic step
towards a nuclear-free world,'' top government spokesman
Seiroku Kajiyama said.