NEW YORK, March 27: Saying that the solution for a lasting alliance with India will not be achieved by blowing a hole in the non-proliferation treaty (NPT), a US Congressman has called upon the government to return to principles that can guide its relations with New Delhi without unleashing a nuclear Pandora’s box.
In an op-ed piece in the Boston Globe, Representative Edward Markey says: “President Bush’s zeal for promoting global commercial deals at the expense of national security — apparent in the Dubai ports fiasco — has now led him to propose a huge loophole in international law for India that threatens the world.”
“In the deal, the United States would join India to blow a hole in the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, shaking the foundation of international cooperation to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. The same president who warned that the United States must not send ‘mixed signals to the world’ is fast becoming confusion’s favourite semaphore,” he asserted.
Noting that ‘India is the world’s largest democracy, but it is also a nuclear outlier’, Mr Markey said: “It has steadfastly refused to sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, refused to accept full-scope International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards over all of its nuclear facilities, diverted peaceful technology into several nuclear weapons, and continued to build a nuclear arsenal. Under existing US law or under international law, India has disqualified itself from full civil nuclear cooperation.”
DANGEROUS DYNAMIC: Mr Markey says that Mr Bush has now decided to try to override US law and the nuclear non-proliferation treaty to accommodate India’s defiance, and stressed ‘he is unleashing a dangerous new dynamic in an unstable world. “Granting India a special exemption from the non-proliferation rules sets the table for a nuclear weapons banquet that could include a large group of unwanted guests. Russia may seek special exemptions from the nuclear rules to share nuclear materials with Iran. China will have a free pass to grant special exemptions for Pakistan or North Korea.”
Indeed, Mr Markey observed: “Pakistan has already said that it wants the same special exemptions that India gets. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry has stated that ‘We do expect that any concessions and exception granted to India in the context of NSG [Nuclear Suppliers Group] or any other multilateral arrangement will be applicable to Pakistan also’.
Moreover, all 188 nations that signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty will ask: “If people who don’t sign are entitled to the same benefits as those who do, why bother playing by the rules? Good question.”
Writing about parallels between Pakistan and India, Mr Markey reflects “Bush justifies granting India this special exemption by saying that India is a special case — it is a responsible nation that has not spread nuclear weapons technologies to others. But in 1974, India used US technology to detonate a nuclear explosive — it acquired the technology by pledging that it was for peaceful purposes only. India broke that pledge claiming it had detonated a peaceful nuclear explosion.
“India does need energy to fuel its growing economy, but the United States can help to counter India’s looming coal-fired contribution to climate change without undermining the global nuclear non-proliferation regime. India has the third largest coal reserves in the world, and coal plants produce 67 per cent of India’s electricity. India burns dirty coal at a high rate that will only increase in the future, leading to emissions that will overwhelm all the efforts of the Kyoto signatories to bring greenhouse gas emissions under control”, says Mr Markey.