We reject the claim by the Government of Pakistan that it's nuclear weapons tests were justified because of the existence and testing of nuclear weapons in India. We similarly reject the claim by the Government of India that it's nuclear weapons were justified by those of others. In the same way that murder does not justify more murder, seeking a capability to carry out mass destruction cannot be justified by saying that others already have it.

We believe that by their actions, India and Pakistan have increased the possibility that nuclear threats may be made, and nuclear weapons deployed and used in South Asia. In a region that is home to one fifth of humanity this would be a catastrophe so great that it can barely be imagined and must be prevented.

We believe there can be no justification for any state to engage .n activities that allow it to design, develop, test and maintain nuclear weapons since these are fundamentally weapons of terror and mass destruction. These weapons are repugnant to civilised society. The only acceptable solution to the threats posed by existing nuclear weapons is not more nuclear weapons but the abolition of all such weapons.

We believe our fellow citizens of Pakistan, and the world as a whole, must respond to this grave crisis and that four responses are required:

1. We call on the government of Pakistan to give a binding commitment that it will not further test, develop or deploy nuclear weapons.

2. We call on the government of India to do the same. . We call upon the governments of Pakistan and India to enter into dialogue to resolve outstanding disputes so that a sound basis can be laid for peace and development in the region. There are two underlying issues which need to be addressed immediately in regard with normalization of relations between Pakistan and India. First and foremost is the Kashmir dispute. This issue needs to be resolved according to the wishes of the people of Kashmir. Existing policies and positions of both Indian and Pakistani states remain untenable and illegitimate without an expressed mandate of the Kashmiri people. Second, to move towards substantive peace between the two countries, it is imperative that the states of India and Pakistan, stop forthwith, molding public opinion towards the hatred of the other on the basis of communal, religious, cultural or other grounds.

3. We call on the nuclear weapons states to immediately and publicly declare that they will uphold their binding commitments under Article VI of the NPT and initiate negotiations on an international Convention to ban all nuclear weapons.