US may press India to sign CTBT: Blackwill

[Neo]

US may press India to sign CTBT: Blackwill​

* Former US envoy urges US administration to stop differentiating between good and bad Taliban
* Advises next Indian government to launch ‘an intensive diplomatic offensive’ to build stronger ties with US​

By Iftikhar Gilani

New Delhi: Former US ambassador to India Robert Blackwill on Tuesday said New Delhi may face pressure from the Obama administration over signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
Addressing a seminar on US-India relations organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, he said India should help the US in imposing sanctions on Iran.

Blackwill, who is currently associated with RAND Corporation, an influential US think tank, also pointed out the lack of communication and close relationships between the policy makers in Washington and in New Delhi.

“Although it is certainly early days, there are preliminary indications that the Obama administration has a different policy orientation towards India. First, it is not clear that the Obama administration has the same preoccupation with the rise of Chinese power and India’s balancing role in it,” Blackwill said.
Good and bad:

Blackwill urged the US administration to stop differentiating between good and bad Taliban to improve relations with India and sought India’s cooperation in dealing with Iran’s nuclear weapon programme.
He said the combination of vital national interests and shared democratic values augur well for bright future in ties between India and the US.

Blackwill was optimistic about the long-term prospects for US-India relationship, but he underlined that “in the immediate future, bilateral ties are likely to be more problematic than we have seen in recent years.”

Blackwill, who also served as deputy national security adviser in the George Bush administration, singled out differing perceptions on Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Iran, civil nuclear cooperation, CTBT, climate change, India’s nuclear weapons and protectionism as some of key problematical issues which could cause “a variety of problems in the US-India relationship in the next months and years”.
Advise:

Blackwill also advised the next Indian government should launch “an intensive diplomatic offensive” to build stronger ties with Washington.
“I would hope that the next government would launch a very intense diplomatic offensive to build stronger ties. American behaviour will affect you more than your behaviour will affect us,” he said when asked about the perceived cooling off of ties during the first 100 days of the Obama administration.

 

[Skeptic]

India Pakistan and Israel share the same opinion. Sounds weird, but its true. CTBT and NPT is denounced by all the three nations which otherwise seem to be on a different planks on most other issues. I think the pressure will not just be on India but equally on Pakistan and Israel as well.

 

[Neo]

US urges India, Israel, Pakistan, NKorea on nukes​

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — A top US arms control negotiator at the United Nations has urged presumed atomic powers India, Israel, Pakistan and North Korea to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"Universal adherence to the NPT itself, including by India, Israel, Pakistan and North Korea ... remains a fundamental objective of the United States," said Assistant Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller.

She later praised "India's willingness to proceed with a fissile material cutoff treaty, in cooperation with the United States, and willingness also to pursue the comprehensive test ban treaty, as well as other lesser but important measures, such as improving its export controls."

"India is coming closer to the non-proliferation regime and that too is an important goal of US policy," Gottemoeller added.

The envoy was at the United Nations for a preparatory session for an NPT conference scheduled for May 2010 in New York.

The last such conference, which gathers NPT signatory states and seeks to rescue the treaty from charges it has become obsolete, ended in disarray in May 2005 with no agreement from the participating countries.

The conferences have been held every five years since the NPT was ratified in 1970. There are currently 189 signatory countries to the treaty.

Israel, which has never publicly acknowledged having a nuclear program, is not a member. Pakistan and India likewise have failed to sign the treaty, while North Korea had been a member, but pulled out in 2003.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed hope Monday that the week-long preparatory session would produce agreements on key procedural matters and issue concrete recommendations for the conference next year.

 

[Neo]

Israel dismisses NPT as “ineffective”​

Updated: Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Washington, 6 May (WashingtonTV)—An Israeli official on Wednesday dismissed a US call to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty [NPT], saying the pact had failed to prevent countries from obtaining nuclear arms.

“This treaty has proven its ineffectiveness, it did not prevent countries like India, Pakistan and North Korea from acquiring nuclear arms,” a senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official told AFP, on the condition of anonymity.

“And when it comes to Iran, you can see the impact it’s having,” he added.

On Tuesday, a top US arms control negotiator urged “universal adherence to the NPT, including by India, Israel, Pakistan and North Korea,” reports Reuters. US Assistant Secretary of State Rose Gottemoller made the remarks on the second day of a two-week meeting at the United Nations of the 189 signatories of the nuclear pact.

Israel, which has never publicly acknowledged having a nuclear program, has not signed the NPT, nor has Pakistan or India. North Korea had been a signatory, but pulled out in 2003.

Israel and the West suspect that Iran – an NPT member – is seeking a nuclear bomb. Tehran insists its nuclear program has solely peaceful aims.

 

[Neo]

India Pakistan and Israel share the same opinion. Sounds weird, but its true. CTBT and NPT is denounced by all the three nations which otherwise seem to be on a different planks on most other issues. I think the pressure will not just be on India but equally on Pakistan and Israel as well.

I second that. Imho NPT already lost its credibility whith the 123 accoord between India and USA. Israel is already rejecting the call as "ineffective", Pakistan will do the same.

 

[godsavetheworld]

I second that. Imho NPT already lost its credibility whith the 123 accoord between India and USA. Israel is already rejecting the call as "ineffective", Pakistan will do the same.

Pakistan doesnt actually need the treaty, they have already violated it. India would be rubbishing it as well.

 

[jeypore]

I second that. Imho NPT already lost its credibility whith the 123 accoord between India and USA. Israel is already rejecting the call as "ineffective", Pakistan will do the same.

I diagree, If the India signs, then Pakistan will definently sign. And that will good for India.

 

[Skeptic]

I diagree, If the India signs, then Pakistan will definently sign. And that will good for India.

I dont see how can India go about signing the NPT as we have always highlighted the discriminatory nature of the treaty and dividing the world between a selected states having control and authority to use Nuclear weapons. Specially for India, since China is an official Nuclear power and it will retain its warheads, I don't see anyways that India putting ink on that treaty.

Having an armed China next to us and not possessing any warheads of our own, how will that be good for India.

Pakistan's defense has developed a reliance on its nuclear capability and they will not be willing to let go of this position of authority.

Both these states have underlined the discriminatory policies of NPT and rightly so. If US is serious about getting India and Pakistan to sign, then it must let go of its own weapons cache, which itself has the capacity to destroy the planet 5 times over and that of the Neuclear "haves". How can they ask others to follow a different set of rules and have a saperate set of rules for themselves.

 

[Nemesis]

India won't sign, no matter what pressure is put on them. Signing the CTBT would be akin to political suicide for the next Indian government.