U.N. Security Council raps India's nuclear tests

NEW YORK, May 14 Kyodo - The U.N. Security Council in a statement Thursday said that it ''strongly deplores'' five underground nuclear tests conducted by India since Monday. ''The Council strongly urges India to refrain from any further tests,'' the council said, adding that such testing ''is contrary to the de facto moratorium on the testing of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, and to global efforts toward nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament.'' Fifteen members of the council, which began working on the statement Tuesday, agreed on the wording and issued the presidential statement Thursday. The adoption of the statement was proposed by Sweden and supported by Japan after India's first three tests Monday. It is the first statement issued by the council on nuclear weapons since 1994, when North Korea refused to allow inspections of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Nuclear disarmament is usually discussed at the U.N. General Assembly. The statement also said the council affirms the ''crucial importance'' of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and urged India, as well as other nations which have yet to become parties to the treaties, to join the treaties ''without delay and without conditions.'' The council ''urges states to exercise maximum restraint'' to preserve peace in South Asia, the statement said in a tacit appeal to Pakistan, India's neighbor and rival, to refrain from conducting nuclear tests in response to India's tests held Monday and Wednesday.