Crisis in India/Pakistan - What you can do

1. Write to the High Commissioners for India and Pakistan.
2. Write to Westminster

1. Write to the High Commissioners for India and Pakistan.

Make some or all of the following points:

·        You are campaigning against nuclear weapons worldwide.

·        You are gravely concerned about the growing danger of a nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan.

·        The consequences would be appalling, not only for India, Pakistan and the Himalayan countries, but also for Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan and much of China.

·        You urge Pakistan to declare immediately that it will not be the first to use nuclear weapons, as India has already done.

·        You urge each to renounce its nuclear weapons and to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-nuclear state.  The current crisis is ample proof that nuclear weapons make states less, not more, secure.

·        You urge each to find a peaceful and permanent solution to the question of Kashmir, which is acceptable to its people.

HE Ronan Sen
High Commissioner for India
India House
Aldwych
London
WC2B 4NA

Tel: 020 7836 8484
Fax: 020 7836 4331
Web: www.hcilondon.org (Go to ‘Feedback’, then to ‘Press’. Then fill in the comment form.)

HE Abdul Kader Jaffer
High Commissioner for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
35-36 Lowndes Square
London SW1X 9JN

Tel: 020 7664 9200
Fax: 020 7664 9224
Email: highcommissioner@highcommission-uk.gov.pk
Web: www.pakmission-uk.gov.pk

2. Write to Westminster

Please write to your MP, at the House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA, and ask her/him to forward your letter to the Secretary of State for Defence and the Foreign Secretary.  In this way, you ensure that the Minister, and not a civil servant, reads the letter.

Make some or all of the following points:

·        You note with great alarm the growing danger of a nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan.  Such an exchange would have appalling, consequences, not only for India, Pakistan and the Himalayan countries, but also for Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan and much of China.

·        A stated reason for the nuclear tests initiated by India and Pakistan in 1998 was a lack of progress towards nuclear disarmament by the five declared nuclear states, as agreed under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

·        On 20th March, giving evidence to the Defence Select Committee, Defence Minister, Geoff Hoon, said: "There are clearly some states who would be deterred by the fact that the United Kingdom possesses nuclear weapons and has the willingness and ability to use them in appropriate circumstances. … They can be absolutely confident that in the right conditions we would be willing to use our nuclear weapons".

How can we urge restraint on others if our own policy is not restrained?

·        You urge the UK to comply with its obligations under the NPT and begin immediately to implement the "Thirteen Steps" called for in the 2000 NPT Review Conference.

Or contact the Ministers direct:

The Rt Hon Geoff Hoon MP                             
The Ministry of Defence                               
Main Building                                         
Whitehall                                             
London SW1A 2HB                                       
Tel: 020 7218 2111                                    
Fax: 020 7218 7140                                   
Web: www.mod.uk (With a response email on it)

The Rt Hon Jack Straw MP
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street
London SW1A 2AL
Tel: 020 7270 2059
Fax: 020 7270 2144
Web: www.fco.gov.uk