Senate of Australia resolution concerning India and Pakistan conflict
Notice given 12 March 2002 24 Senator Bourne: To move
(1) That the Senate
(a) notes:
(i) the statement made on the Agni missile launch by the President of the European Community on 29 January 2002,
(ii) the statements made by the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr Downer) on 2 January and 25 January 2002, and representations made by the Australian Government to the Indian and Pakistani high commissions,
(iii) the proposal made on 23 January 2002 by President Musharraf for a denuclearised South Asia, and
(iv) that a nuclear exchange in South Asia would be an unimaginable catastrophe, with casualty estimates starting in the millions and upper estimates exceeding 100 million;
(b) calls on:
(i) India and Pakistan not to use either conventional or nuclear force against each other to resolve the problems of Kashmir or cross-border terrorism,
(ii) the Indian and Pakistani governments to take specific measures, including no-first use guarantees and non-deployment, to positively ensure that nuclear weapons will never be used,
(iii) India and Pakistan to take measures to ensure that conventional conflict does not take place, including moving troops away from forward deployments especially at the line of control,
(iv) the governments of India and Pakistan to restore road, rail and air links, and
(v) India and Pakistan to commence a process of dialogue over Kashmir and the elimination of cross-border terrorism, and the establishment of a lasting and just peace in South Asia; and
(c) urges both nations to consider signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and to roll back their nuclear weapons programs.
(2) Requests the President of the Senate to transmit this resolution to President Musharraf, Prime Minister Vajpayee, the foreign and defence ministers of India and Pakistan, and their high commissions in Canberra.
(3) Urges the Australian Government to make further representations to the above effect.
Status as at March 12, 2002. Introduced to the Senate by Senator Bourne |