Small states worry over nuclear tests

Small states worry over nuclear tests

COLOMBO (Reuters): South Asia's smaller countries said yesterday that recent nuclear tests by their giant neighbors India and Pakistan had made nuclear disarmament a prime concern for the region.

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga said in a speech inaugurating a three-day summit of the seven-member South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) that none of the group's members had rushed to judgment on the tests.

But she added: "Although these concerns are not on the agenda of the summit, they cannot be ignored."

"I believe all of us agree that such concerns cannot be divorced or considered in isolation from the global security environment, in particular the nuclear environment, and the tardy progress in nuclear disarmament on a global scale."

The tests in May attracted worldwide condemnation and economic sanctions against the two countries. The resulting tension between India and Pakistan, whose leaders are due to meet on the sidelines of the regional summit, has overshadowed the summit's agenda.

Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom said the tests in South Asia had brought new regional concerns to the fore. "In all our previous meetings we have called for nuclear disarmament. Now the need for vigilance is even greater," Gayoom said.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said in her speech that the nuclear tests could have been avoided.

"The recent nuclear tests in our region...is a development that we all wish could have been avoided. Problems, however complex, can surely be resolved through peaceful means," she said.

Lyonpo Jigmi Yoeser Thinley, head of the Bhutanese government, said every nation had the right to protect its national interests and uphold national dignity, but stressed that they must take advantage of opportunities for bilateral meetings at the summit to address common concerns.

Nepali Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala said statesmanship and vision were required to counter the fear of an arms race in the region.

Kumaratunga also expressed regret that the five declared nuclear powers -- the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China -- "have so far failed to move significantly towards nuclear disarmament".