UNITED KINGDOM: British Prime Minister Tony Blair speaking at a news conference alongside Indian premier Manmohan Singh on the test-firing of a nuclear weapon by North Korea

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Tuesday (October 10) that the claimed test-firing of a nuclear weapon by North Korea was a "very, very serious" development. Speaking at a news conference alongside Indian premier Manmohan Singh, Blair urged the Pyongyang regime to return to international talks aimed at resolving the issue of its nuclear weapons programme. He told reporters in his Downing Street residence: "The tragedy of North Korea is not just that this nuclear test, which is worrying for all the very obvious reasons, it's what is happening, it's what's happening in the country of North Korea where its people literally are living in oppression, mass poverty and starvation in some cases, while they spend billions of dollars on nuclear weapons and it's a tragedy." "But the only way of dealing with it is to deal with it through a revitalisation of the Six Party talks and to make sure North Korea comes back into compliance with its international obligations." Blair also paid tribute to the response from China, Pyongyang's major ally, who described the nuclear tests as "brazen". He said: "I should say also that I welcome the strong stand that China has taken on this, I think that's important." China declined on Tuesday to rule out possible U.N. sanctions against North Korea for carrying out a reported nuclear test but said any military action was unimaginable. It said it had no information about widespread speculation that the secretive North might be ready to conduct a second test. The aftershocks of North Korea's reported nuclear test have hit India, prompting concern that its nuclear cooperation deal with the United States could be undermined by a renewed focus on proliferation. India, keen to show itself as a responsible nuclear power, plans to counter those fears by turning the spotlight on rival Pakistan's alleged role in aiding North Korea's nuclear programme. "I wish to state a further erosion of the non-proliferation regime is not in our interests, we do not support the emergence of another nuclear weapons state," said Singh. "The DPRK (North Korea) test highlights the danger of clandestine proliferation. In fact India's own security has suffered due to clandestine proliferation linkages emanating from our neighbours." New Delhi is nervous about being clubbed with countries such as Pakistan, North Korea or Iran by a vocal non-proliferation lobby in Washington opposed to a landmark India-U.S. civilian nuclear cooperation pact, officials and analysts said. The timing was particularly bad for India, with its nuclear cooperation deal stymied in the U.S. Congress and now looking less likely to be passed this year. But the government tried to put on a brave face. Pakistan, which like India conducted nuclear tests in 1998 and drew widespread condemnation, criticised the North Korean test saying it had urged Pyongyang to desist from introducing nuclear weapons in the Korean peninsula. But a black market nuclear network run by disgraced Pakistani atomic scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan is suspected of having helped North Korea's weapons programme in exchange for Pyongyang's assistance to build missile systems. Islamabad has rejected such charges in the past and said that Khan was acting on his own. Singh also responded to an apparent offer from Pakistan to punish any Pakistani culprits in the Mumbai bombings if New Delhi can provide tangible proof against individual suspects. "Yes, we will take advantage of that offer of Pakistan and we will provide what we consider as credible evidence to that effect," he said. More than 200 people died on July 11 when seven bombs were detonated on Mumbai commuter trains.

ITN Source | October 10, 2006

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