G8 leaders condemn India's nuclear tests

Helmut Kohl, Boris Yeltsin, Jacques Chriac and Tony Blair - four of the G8 leaders

Leaders at the G8 summit in Britain have collectively condemned the nuclear tests carried out by India.

But the eight countries represented at the meeting did not agree any co-ordinated programme of sanctions against India.

Their statement came as India proclaimed it was now a nuclear power with the ability to build a "big bomb".

Meanwhile, neighbouring Pakistan has said it is yet to decide whether it will respond with nuclear tests of its own.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee

The issue of India's nuclear ambitions looked set to be one of the main subjects up for discussion among leaders of the most advanced industrial nations, who have gathered in Birmingham, UK, for the G8 summit.

In a statement issued after talks over dinner, the eight leaders said India's underground tests had been met with concern and opposition.

They expressed "grave concern about the increased risk of nuclear and missile proliferation in South Asia and elsewhere".

"We urge India and other states in the region to refrain from further tests and the deployment of nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles," the leaders said.

They called on India to unconditionally sign up to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and the comprehensive test ban treaty.

They also called on India to enter negotiations on a treaty to stop the production of material needed to produce nuclear weapons.

Nawaz Sharif: "We want to react responsibly"

The G8 member states did not reach any collective stance on sanctions. The United States and Japan have imposed their own measures on India, but Russia and the West Europeans think that is not the best way forward.

Pakistan's tense relationship with its neighbour prompted the G8 leaders to ask Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to exercise maximum restraint.

Earlier on Friday, the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, telephoned his Indian counterpart, Atal Behari Vajpayee, to express the dismay of world leaders meeting at the G8 summit in Birmingham at India's nuclear tests.

But the tests have proved highly popular among the electorate, and Mr Vajpayee has told a national magazine that the country now has the capacity to make a big bomb. He goes on to say that India would never use its weapons for aggressive purposes.

Fears of a South Asian arms race diminished slightly after Pakistan appeared to back away from conducting its own nuclear tests.

US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott

The US Deputy Secretary of State, Strobe Talbott, has been meeting Mr Sharif with the aim of quelling any proliferation.

The Pakistani prime minister said: "I think we want to react responsibly.

"We have the capability and we haven't tested the bomb for the past 15-20 years. We are in no haste to test the bomb immediately after India."