Britain Ready To Sign Test Ban Pact

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29778, 22 March 1962, Page 10

Britain Ready To Sign Test Ban Pact

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) GENEVA, March 21. Britain yesterday acknowledged Russia’s “advantage” from its recent nuclear tests and offered to let it stand provided the Soviet Government signed a test ban with adequate international control. The Foreign Secretary (Lord Home) told the 17-nation disarmament conference that Russia had “certainly derived military knowledge and advantage” from its recent massive test.

Lord Home said that “we are flexible and ready for reasonable compromise” on the question of a nuclear test ban agreement. “Verification” (control? was the point on which “success or failure of our conference will turn.” He said that "we are prepared to sign a nuclear tests ban agreement now provided “we have an adequate minimum system of international verification.” Soviet Advantage Lord Home said: “From their last series of massive tests last autumn, the Soviet Government have certainly derived military knowledge and advantage. We are prepared to disregard them. “We are prepared to say ‘Keep your advantage.’ We say: ‘ln spite of whatever gain you made, we are prepared to sign an agreement now to put an end between us for ever to all nuclear wea pons tests provided we have an adequate minimum system of international verification.’ “We do not stipulate exactly what this system must be.”

2. Readiness to reduce “our nuclear weapons” on the basis suggested by Mr Rusk. Britain was also ready to cut conventional armaments. 3. Acceptance of whatever machinery of verification that could be agreed upon. 4. Readiness to set up and play her part in an international disarmament organisation. 5. Readiness to work out agreed arrangements to deal with the problem of surprise attack and to limit dissemination of nuclear weapons. 6. Willingness to conclude at once any lasting treating on the banning of nuclear tests. 7. Readiness to stay at the conference and “to continue to work together until we have hammered out policies which are acceptable on all matters before us.” At the conclusion of his 2500-word speech, Lord Home said: “Let us therefore get down to work and today I pledge my delegation to pursue these tasks which the world has laid upon us with all the zeal, ingenuity and diligence at our command until the ultimate goal of general and complete disarmament has been reached.” Speech Praised Mr Rusk later issued a statement saying: “The lemaining issue to be settled, if there is to be a nuclei: test ban treaty, is the ability to obtain the necessary amount of objective international scientific information and inspection.’’ He described Lord Home’s speech as “a most effective and statesmanlike presentation.

debate into actual disarmament,” Mr Rusk said. The Indian Defence Minister (Mr Krishna Menon) suggested that existing detection systems could be supple mented by a series of monitoring stations in uncommitted countries.

Aggression Alleged.— Syria charged yesterday that Israel had “committed a series of acts of aggression” against her territory and the demilitarised zone. These constituted a “threat to the peace and security of the area," the chief Syrian delegate (Mr Farid Chehlaoui) said In a letter to the United Nations Security Council.—New York, March 20.

Lord Home added: “We are prepared to sign the same treaty we offered before the last series of Soviet tests or we are prepared to negotiate upon it. Alternatively we are ready to negotiate upon any proposals for an adequate minimum of international verification.”

Lord Home fully supported the disarmament proposals by Mr Dean Rusk, the United States Secretary of State, last Thursday. British Proposals Lord Home listed the following moves Britain was willing to take as her contribution to disarmament:— 1. Determined efforts at the conference table to bring about “actual destruction of arms.”

“He put his finger upon the key points if we are to translate almost two decades of