U.S. Ignores Pakistani Nuclear Drive, Gandhi Tells Soviet Hosts

MOSCOW —  Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, ending two days of talks in Moscow, charged Wednesday that the United States is ignoring rival Pakistan’s development of a nuclear weapon.

Gandhi, accorded a lavish welcome by India’s Soviet benefactor on his first official visit abroad, also spoke warmly of his country’s close Soviet ties.

At a news conference after a meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev and the signing of two trade agreements, Gandhi said: “My talks have strengthened our relations and helped the cause of peace. Our friendship has developed and matured over 30 years. It is not a friendship directed against anyone.”

Sidestepping questions about a possible shift in his foreign policy toward Washington, where he will visit next month, Gandhi was nonetheless critical of U.S. policy.

He expressed the belief that the Reagan Administration can do more to stop Pakistan from developing a nuclear weapon.

“The U.S. wants to turn a blind eye to the Pakistani nuclear program,” he said.

Gandhi also condemned the U.S. trade embargo against Nicaragua and the controversial Strategic Defense Initiative, labeled “Star Wars.”

Gandhi, who took office last fall after the assassination of his mother, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, asserted that India’s ties with Washington were good. He said he hopes to develop good relations with Reagan. “We look to the United States for technology, deeper cultural exchanges, more trade,” he said.

But in reply to a question, he said India will not bend its policies to suit U.S. positions in return for American trade. “We don’t compromise our positions in return for anything,” he added.

India’s leader, according to some analysts, has recently begun to try to improve relations with Washington--an effort Western and Asian diplomats belief makes Moscow uneasy.