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| US lifts some curbs on India nuclear cooperation | |
| 2005-08-31 | |
| WASHINGTON - The United States on Tuesday moved to further nuclear cooperation with India by allowing six Indian entities involved in civil nuclear and satellite work to purchase less sensitive US-made items without special licenses. The new rule, published in the Federal Register, removes some restrictions imposed after New Delhi sparked international condemnation when it conducted nuclear weapons tests in 1998. Since then, US President George W. Bush has accelerated a diplomatic embrace of the worldâs largest democracy. US officials said the Commerce Department rule change does not clear the way for the transfer of the kind of advanced nuclear power reactors and other technology that New Delhi is keen to obtain to meet its civilian energy needs. An agreement announced in July after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Bush at the White House promised such broad nuclear cooperation in the future. But that agreement, upending decades-old nonproliferation standards, would require changes in US law and international policy that the administration has yet to propose. The new rule, however, does constitute a modest advance in a deepening nuclear cooperation between the two major democracies. It is built on a series of reciprocal steps agreed by India and the United States in January 2004. US officials told Reuters that Tuesdayâs rule change responded to Indiaâs recent enactment of tighter export controls and its formal commitment that US items sold to Indian government facilities would not be used for weapons purposes. The rule change affects three civilian nuclear power reactors as well as three units of the Indian Space Research Organization. A Commerce Department official said items no longer subject to licensing when purchased by the six entities include equipment outside the reactor that could transfer nuclear power to an electrical grid as well as safety improvements. The rule change also allows US firms to sell India oscilloscopes, an electronic testing device which has nuclear weapons as well as civilian uses. The three civilian nuclear reactors exempted from the licensing curbs are subject to international monitoring and are judged not to have weapons-related functions, US officials said. The space-related entities are also considered separate from the Indian weapons program because these units work on satellites, not space-launched vehicles, officials said. After the 1998 nuclear tests, the United States put hundreds of Indian entities under export licensing restrictions. Over the years, the number was whittled down and now a couple of dozen entities remain under the curbs, a Commerce Department official said. Nonproliferation expert Henry Sokolski said while Tuesdayâs rule change was rather modest, it underscores that US plans for even more sweeping nuclear cooperation with India remain so unclear. He and other experts worry the July deal could undermine long-fought efforts to stem the spread of nuclear arms and say how Washington implements the agreement will be key. âI think the administration would do well to go further than it has already in publicly clearing the air as to what its plan of action is,â he said.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 Agreed,Steve.Given China's actions of late,haveing a strong ally in India is like holding a dagger at China's back. |
| Posted by: raptor 2005-08-31 07:47 |