Nuclear Suppliers Group Must Not Cave In to Bush Administration on U.S.-India Nuclear Deal
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 21, 2008
CONTACT: Leonor Tomero
Washington, D.C. – The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation today urged the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which is meeting today on the U.S.-India nuclear deal, not to capitulate to the Bush administration and permit an unprecedented exception in international nuclear trade rules for India.
Under pressure from the United States and India, the 45 countries of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, an international consortium that monitors nuclear exports, are being asked to approve an exemption for India without any conditions.
"As one of only three countries that has never signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and by continuing to refuse to sign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty or commit to stopping the production of nuclear weapons-usable material, India has shunned meaningful nonproliferation commitments," said Leonor Tomero, Director for Nuclear Non-Proliferation at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
The Suppliers Group will meet to discuss an exemption for India today and tomorrow, and is also expected to meet again on September 2. A group of Suppliers Group countries – including New Zealand, Ireland, Sweden, Austria, and Switzerland – has raised concerns about the consequences of the U.S.-India nuclear deal.
"The Nuclear Suppliers Group should not cave in to pressure by India and the United States and hastily approve the nuclear deal because of the dangerous implications for nuclear nonproliferation efforts," added Tomero.
Lt. General Robert Gard (USA, Ret.), Chairman of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, warned that "Granting an exception for India without conditions would undermine U.S. and international security by significantly weakening nuclear nonproliferation efforts at a time when nuclear weapons pose the gravest threat to the world."
Gard added: "The U.S.-India nuclear deal risks fueling a regional arms race with Pakistan, complicating negotiations over Iran, and unraveling the NPT, which has been the best defense against the spread of nuclear weapons for 40 years."
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