25 July 2006Truthout
US Representatives Barbara Lee (D-Oakland), Ed Markey (D-MA), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and Diane Watson (D-CA) held a press conference on Capitol Hill today to share concerns about the proposed deal to lift restrictions on US nuclear aid to India that the House will vote on tomorrow. The following is Congresswoman Lee's statement:
"I want to thank Congressman Markey for co-hosting this press conference with me and for his outstanding leadership on the issue on nuclear nonproliferation. I'd also like to thank our colleagues for joining us.
"We are all here today to express our concerns about the India nuclear deal that Congress will vote on tomorrow.
"This deal proposes lifting the current restrictions on the US providing nuclear materials and technology to India.
"The problem with the deal, as it is currently written, is that it will do lasting harm to more than thirty years of international efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons.
"This deal creates a double standard that undermines our efforts to stop countries like Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The US is pressuring Iran (an NPT member) not to develop nuclear technology while at the same time attempting to supply India (a non-NPT member) with similar nuclear technology.
"This deal creates incentives for withdrawing from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It may encourage countries like Brazil and South Korea to reexamine their commitment to the NPT-why have they spent all these years playing by the rules and not building nuclear weapons in exchange for civilian technology, when India gets both?
"This deal sets a dangerous precedent. If this deal goes through, are we prepared to accept the likelihood that Pakistan and China will pursue a similar deal? In explaining Beijing's rationale for potentially pursuing a deal with Pakistan, Shen Dingli, a professor of international relations at China's Fudan University has already argued, "If the US can violate [the nuclear rules], then we can violate them."
"This deal could help feed a nuclear arms race in South Asia. We have no guarantee that we will not be supplying India raw materials and technology that indirectly allow India to increase its bomb making capacity.
"Proponents of the deal stress the strategic importance of the US-India bilateral relationship and suggest that India can be trusted as a responsible steward of its nuclear weapons. That may very well be true, but it is not the point. Proponents of this deal have failed to answer how, if we make exceptions to the nuclear rules for this one country, we can expect that other countries will feel bound by those rules.
"Virtually everyone agrees that it is in our country's interest to strengthen our relationship with India, but to suggest that we can do so only at the expense of the international non-proliferation standards is both dishonest and dangerous.
"So let's be clear: this is not about India. As far as I am concerned, there is no country for which it would be acceptable to sacrifice our international standards.
"We should be fighting to save what is left of the international nonproliferation framework, not just throwing it away.
"The Bush administration has been openly hostile to a multilateral, diplomatic approach to arms control, but the fact is that treaties like the NPT have been remarkably effective. One very real danger of quietly abandoning the NPT is that with it we discard the basis for the international consensus in opposing the unconstrained nuclear ambitions of North Korea and Iran and open the door to a nuclear weapons free-for-all.
"The Bush administration's unilateral, military approach to arms control has crumbled in the face of challenges and made the world a far more dangerous place. It hardly represents a viable alternative to the very successful multilateral and diplomatic approach that has been pursued for four decades.
"We need to go back to the drawing board and make sure this proposed nuclear cooperation agreement maintains international non-proliferation goals.
"The most desirable scenario would be for India to formally commit to the goals and restrictions on the international nonproliferation framework and sign the nuclear nonproliferation treaty.
"Short of that, we must insist on specific non-proliferation safeguards. India must prove that the materials and technology provided by the US for civilian purposes will not be used in India's military facilities, and that all reactors that supply electricity to the civilian sector in India are declared and come under a regime of international inspections. India must also be required to undertake a binding obligation, just as nuclear weapon states under the NPT do, not to assist, encourage or induce non-nuclear weapon states to manufacture or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons. Finally, India must commit to taking concrete steps toward disarmament, including commitments to stop fissile material production for weapons, reduce its nuclear stockpile and eventually eliminate all nuclear weapons.
"Without these commitments, Congress should reject the proposed India nuclear deal."
