By Kathy Gannon
Associated Press Writer
Sunday, Oct. 3, 1999; 1:56 p.m. EDT

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan –– An unchecked India is certain to push the volatile South Asian subcontinent into a costly and conceivably catastrophic nuclear arms race, Pakistan's foreign minister warned Sunday.

Sartaj Aziz returned to Pakistan after attending the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York to repeat a warning he also sounded to the world's foreign ministers, including Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

"At all cost a nuclear arms race in South Asia must be avoided ... this is the most important global security issue in the world today ... and this is potentially the most dangerous region," he said.

Aziz warned that the price of an unrestrained nuclear arms race between two neighbors, who have already fought three wars, could be catastrophic, not just for the Asian subcontinent but the world.

India's proposed nuclear doctrine, which calls for full-scale development and deployment of nuclear weapons, has not yet been adopted as policy.

"The time is now to apply pressure for restraint, before India moves away from minimum deterrence to full scale nuclear posture," Aziz said.

India and Pakistan exploded underground nuclear devices last year and declared themselves nuclear powers, causing fears that they would use these weapons in an all-out war.

They came dangerously close to a fourth war last May during protracted border fighting over the divided Himalayan state of Kashmir.

It is not known how many nuclear weapons either country has, or how sophisticated their nuclear arsenals are, but both possess short- and medium-range missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

Pakistan says it does not want to embark on a nuclear arms race but won't be left behind by India.

Aziz also said Pakistan stands by its promise to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, but only after all sanctions against it have been lifted.

Pakistan, heavily dependent on foreign assistance, has been hard hit by the sanctions imposed against both nations following last year's nuclear tests.

India's National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra told the private STAR television network on Sunday that India's post-election Parliament would decide its position on signing the global test ban treaty.