Obama administration would not push for ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) by the US Congress until it is confident about its passage, said a top American official.
The Obama administration would not push for ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) by the US Congress until it is confident about its passage, a top American official has said.
"The (US) president has set no specific timeline for achieving ratification," the administration's non-proliferation czar Ellen Tauscher told the 'Arms Control Today' in an interview published in its latest issue.
Tauscher, who is the Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, said the Obama administration, is however, committed to advancing the CTBT.
"The CTBT is both about policy and about politics. This administration will not attempt to (seek ratification) unless we believe it can actually pass," she said.
In 1999, the US Senate had voted 51-48 against the CTBT ratification.
"So there is a lot about this that is important to informing (the public and Congress) to gain (the Senate's) advice and consent," Tauscher said.
"Part of it is clearly a domestic campaign, and there is a lot of international interest because of the consequences of United States ratification for those eight Annex II countries ... The whole question of going into force is on the bubble."
Under Annex II of CTBT, 44 specified states must ratify it to bring it into force. China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and US are the countries on the list that have not ratified the treaty.
Stating that vice president, Joe Biden, is very involved in the effort to seek CTBT's ratification, Tauscher stressed that there is a lot of queueing and sequencing going on.
"Right now, we're finishing negotiations on START (pact with Russia). START needs to be ratified. In the meantime we're conducting the Nuclear Posture Review. We're going to have a (fiscal year 2011) budget submission. There are a number of pieces here that are important to the narrative for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty," she said.
"We have been living under the conditions of it since (president George H W) Bush. So it's been a very long time, and we have had advances in science-based stockpile stewardship. Secretary (Hillary) Clinton also (last month) talked about stockpile management and where that fits in. What we have is a commitment by the administration to advance the CTBT," Tauscher said.
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