Nations Try To Salvage N-Testing Ban

The United States and the world’s other four nuclear powers refused to take India’s “no” for an answer Tuesday and vowed to find a way to salvage the generation-old dream of a worldwide ban on nuclear tests, despite India’s veto at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.

Officials in Washington said backers of the ban probably will introduce it as a regular resolution when the U.N. General Assembly convenes next month, a procedure that could let nations begin to sign it before the end of this year.

An overwhelming vote in the General Assembly - which is virtually certain - would put heavy pressure on India to drop its opposition to the measure that would ban all nuclear explosions, whether bomb tests or ostensibly peaceful blasts.

But unless India relents, the accord can never officially take effect because it must be ratified by all 44 nations that have nuclear research reactors. India is the only one of the 44 to object to the ban.

In an angry statement issued in Geneva, U.S. disarmament negotiator Stephen Ledogar brushed aside India’s explanation that it blocked the treaty to pressure the five nuclear powers - the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China - to set a deadline to get rid of their arsenals.

“The real reason is that the current government in New Delhi wants to maintain the Indian nuclear weapon option,” he said.