Asia forum raps India over nuclear tests

MANILA, May 21 Kyodo - Senior officials at a meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) on Thursday criticized India for its recent nuclear testing, calling the tests inconsistent with India's commitments to ARF's principle of nonproliferation. ''The discussions were very heavy,'' said one Association of Southeast Asian Nations official attending the three-day ARF senior officials meeting. Among the delegations which voiced concerns over the nuclear testing were Japan, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the European Union (EU), and the United States, he said. ''The delegations noted that when India joined ARF, she promised to abide by all of the principles of ARF and one of the principles of ARF is nonproliferation,'' said another ASEAN official. The head of the Indian delegation defended his country's action by saying that ''India never changed its policy in favor of nonproliferation but it always believed in universal and comprehensive disarmament and not a double standard,'' the ASEAN official said. India has said disarmament must be universal and must include the nuclear powers in the West who already have the capability to do simulation or laboratory tests that would allow them to improve their nuclear weapons without actually testing them. An ASEAN source said Australia and Japan urged the Philippines which chairs the current ARF meeting to push for the issuance of a statement by the senior officials condemning India's nuclear testing, but that ASEAN members opposed it. The ASEAN officials noted that a separate statement by the senior officials would be unprecedented, since they usually just prepare statements to be issued by their ministers at the end of their yearly meeting in July. As a compromise, several countries are pushing instead for the criticisms of India to be reflected in the press statement to be issued by the chairman of the meeting, Philippine Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs Lauro Baja, at a press conference Friday. Aside from this, the draft of the ARF chairman's statement to be issued after the ARF ministers meeting in July has incorporated a passage that would reiterate ARF's principle of nonproliferation and would note that ''one ARF member'' has violated this principle, ASEAN sources said. Even without being named in the draft statement, India is opposing the passage, saying that while it was amenable to a reiteration of the principle of nonproliferation, India should not be singled out, the source said. But during the break in discussions Thursday, Indian delegates were seen urging Baja not to issue a statement on the nuclear testing. Baja told them, within hearing of reporters, that all the statements being drafted during the current meeting are not for public release but for consideration of the ministers in July. ARF is the only forum in the Asia-Pacific region on political and security issues. Its 21 participants are Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Canada, China, the EU, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the U.S.