WASHINGTON, May 1: Pakistan's egregious ballistic missile program and reports of Chinese, Korean and even American firms aiding Islamabad in its pursuit of nuclear and ballistic technology is to figure among the list of New Delhi concerns in talks between Indian Foreign Secretary K Raghunath and US Undersecretary of State Thomas Pickering which began here this morning. Raghunath went into parleys at 10.30 am this morning with his American counterpart and the exchanges were scheduled to last till 12.30 pm (10 pm IST), following which the two were to continue discussions over lunch.India is keen to drive home its concern about Pakistan's nuclear and ballistic capers while trying to grasp the full meaning of the so-called strategic dialogue. New Delhi is particularly keen to set the record straight about proliferation in South Asia: that it was not India which initiated the race as Pakistan has claimed, but it was Islamabad's induction of Chinese supplied M-11 missiles into the region which ignited theproblem.
Raghunath is scheduled to meet John Holum, Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, who is also the Acting Undersecretary for International Affairs. He will also meet with Deputy Secretary Strobe Talbott, who is the Acting Secretary in the absence of Madeleine Albright (now in China) and the administration's foremost arms control negotiator.
Raghunath is expected to call on the National Security Advisor Samuel Berger later in the evening. Berger himself is expect to visit India preparatory to President Clinton's year end trip. Officials said both India and the US were keen on building up momentum with a series of high level exchanges leading up to the Presidential visit. Efforts are already on to draw up schedules for Defence Minister George Fernandes and Commerce Minister Ramakrishna Hegde to visit the US.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
