Indonesia regrets Pakistan's tests

Indonesia regrets Pakistan's tests

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia "deeply regrets" Pakistan's decision
to conduct five underground nuclear tests on Thursday, Minister
of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said yesterday.

As party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and signatory to the
Convention for Test Ban Treaty, Indonesia "cannot justify nuclear
arms tests by any country, including Pakistan", Alatas said in a
statement released by his office.

Indonesia took the same stance when India conducted nuclear
tests early this month, he noted.

The series of nuclear tests has inevitably heightened tension
in subcontinent South Asia, set off a regional nuclear arms race
and put the world further away from its non-proliferation and
nuclear disarmament goals, which the international community has
pursued since the first atomic bomb was detonated, Alatas said.

"Indonesia respects the sovereignty of every country to
determine its own national interests, but as a country that fully
adheres to the principles and objectives of a nuclear-free world,
we are of the opinion that national security policy should be
pursued without the use of arms," he added.