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Bomb test may scupper Indo-US nuclear deal
By Jo Johnson in New Delhi
Published: October 10 2006 18:13 | Last updated: October 10 2006 18:13
North Korea’s nuclear test will reduce the chances of the Indo-US civilian nuclear energy agreement being passed by a lame duck session of the Senate in November and strengthen the non-proliferation lobby in the US, Indian security analysts warned on Tuesday.
US President George W. Bush is expected to face renewed criticism that he is rewarding bad behaviour by allowing a resumption of civil nuclear trade and co-operation with India, despite its 1998 nuclear test and refusal to join the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Critics of the deal have argued that US support for a normalisation of nuclear relations with India, long subject to a grinding technology-denial regime, will encourage other countries with nuclear ambitions to test the strength of the non-proliferation system.
“The non-proliferation lobby will again raise a hue and cry, as it will seem as though India is being singled out for special treatment,” said Harinder Sekhon, senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi think-tank.
“It will be hotly debated [when the Senate reconvenes in November]. There won’t be a rubber stamp,” said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the independent Arms Control Association and a critic of the proposed agreement with India.
“The North Korean situation shows that when the international community, and particularly the United States, forgives and forgets states that have violated non-proliferation standards, it gives greater licence to future proliferators to bend or break the rules.”
The Indo-US pact is already in trouble in the US Congress, and if the Senate does not take up the enabling legislation for the deal in the brief caretaker session that follows next month’s congressional elections, the legislative process must start again from scratch next year.
Under such circumstances, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be likely to come under renewed domestic pressure to harden his negotiating stance from coalition allies opposed to what they see as his pro-US foreign policy tilt.
“The non-proliferation issue in this debate will assume greater significance, but the US Congress is by and large still overwhelmingly supportive,” said Major-General Dipankar Bannerjee of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies.
The Indian government, which has condemned the North Korean test, is redoubling its lobbying efforts in Washington in an attempt to stress its own “impeccable non-proliferation record” and no-first-use policy with respect to nuclear weapons.
“India tested, no doubt about it, but we have a strong no-first-use policy and had never joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, whereas North Korea has never given such assurances and opted out of the NPT,” said Mrs Sekhon.
The Hindu, perhaps India’s most influential newspaper, said New Delhi’s criticism of Pyongyang’s “adventurism” smacked of “double standards” and “hypocrisy”.
Additional reporting by Guy Dinmore in Washington
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/e20e3eae-587e-11db-b70f-0000779e2340.html
By Jo Johnson in New Delhi
Published: October 10 2006 18:13 | Last updated: October 10 2006 18:13
North Korea’s nuclear test will reduce the chances of the Indo-US civilian nuclear energy agreement being passed by a lame duck session of the Senate in November and strengthen the non-proliferation lobby in the US, Indian security analysts warned on Tuesday.
US President George W. Bush is expected to face renewed criticism that he is rewarding bad behaviour by allowing a resumption of civil nuclear trade and co-operation with India, despite its 1998 nuclear test and refusal to join the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Critics of the deal have argued that US support for a normalisation of nuclear relations with India, long subject to a grinding technology-denial regime, will encourage other countries with nuclear ambitions to test the strength of the non-proliferation system.
“The non-proliferation lobby will again raise a hue and cry, as it will seem as though India is being singled out for special treatment,” said Harinder Sekhon, senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi think-tank.
“It will be hotly debated [when the Senate reconvenes in November]. There won’t be a rubber stamp,” said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the independent Arms Control Association and a critic of the proposed agreement with India.
“The North Korean situation shows that when the international community, and particularly the United States, forgives and forgets states that have violated non-proliferation standards, it gives greater licence to future proliferators to bend or break the rules.”
The Indo-US pact is already in trouble in the US Congress, and if the Senate does not take up the enabling legislation for the deal in the brief caretaker session that follows next month’s congressional elections, the legislative process must start again from scratch next year.
Under such circumstances, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be likely to come under renewed domestic pressure to harden his negotiating stance from coalition allies opposed to what they see as his pro-US foreign policy tilt.
“The non-proliferation issue in this debate will assume greater significance, but the US Congress is by and large still overwhelmingly supportive,” said Major-General Dipankar Bannerjee of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies.
The Indian government, which has condemned the North Korean test, is redoubling its lobbying efforts in Washington in an attempt to stress its own “impeccable non-proliferation record” and no-first-use policy with respect to nuclear weapons.
“India tested, no doubt about it, but we have a strong no-first-use policy and had never joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, whereas North Korea has never given such assurances and opted out of the NPT,” said Mrs Sekhon.
The Hindu, perhaps India’s most influential newspaper, said New Delhi’s criticism of Pyongyang’s “adventurism” smacked of “double standards” and “hypocrisy”.
Additional reporting by Guy Dinmore in Washington
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/e20e3eae-587e-11db-b70f-0000779e2340.html
