US would stop nuke trade if India tests
bomb
Associated Press
By Foster Klug
September 3, 2008
WASHINGTON (AP) — A leading
Democratic lawmaker has made public a secret Bush administration letter that
says the U.S. has the right to immediately stop nuclear trade with India if
that country conducts an atomic test.
Rep. Howard Berman is releasing the
State Department's Jan. 16 answers to key congressional questions at a
sensitive moment in the countries' pursuit of a deal that would reverse three
decades of U.S. policy by shipping atomic fuel to India in return for
international inspections of India's civilian reactors.
Members of the Nuclear Suppliers
Group of countries that export nuclear material are gathering in Vienna on Thursday and
Friday to discuss the deal. The Bush administration must get an exemption for India from the
NSG's rules before Congress could ratify the proposal, which would allow the
sale of nuclear materials to a country that has tested nuclear weapons but has
refused to sign nonproliferation treaties.
The U.S.
view on future Indian testing is important because India, looking to ease strong
domestic opposition, has said the agreement would not ban future Indian nuclear
tests or affect Indian decision-making in foreign policy.
In the letter addressed to Berman's
predecessor as chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the late Tom
Lantos, the State Department said that stopping nuclear trade with India would be
"a serious step" and would come only under circumstances that include
the detonation of a nuclear weapon.
U.S. assurances to India to arrange for continued nuclear fuel
supply, the letter said, "are intended to guard against disruptions of
fuel supply to India that
might occur through no fault of India's
own." Those would include a trade war and market disruptions.
"The fuel supply assurances are
not, however, meant to insulate India
against the consequences of a nuclear explosive test or a violation of
nonproliferation commitments," the letter said.
In response to an unusual request by
the Bush administration, senior U.S.
lawmakers had kept secret the State Department's answers to more than 40
questions about an agreement that settled technical matters on a broad nuclear
cooperation deal struck in 2005. The administration's request had come as the
nuclear deal faced strong political opposition in India. U.S. critics said keeping the
answers to the congressional questions secret was meant to stop publicity that
could have killed an already wounded accord.
Some countries at the Nuclear
Suppliers Group have offered strong opposition to an exemption for India. The Vienna talks this week are expected to focus on amendments
to a U.S.-proposed draft statement that would allow India access to other nations'
nuclear fuel and technology.
Time, however, is running out for U.S. lawmakers
to consider the deal. Congress has only a few weeks of work in September before
it is scheduled to break for the rest of the year to campaign for November
elections that will determine the next president and the political future of
many current lawmakers.
Berman supports nuclear cooperation
with India, but last month he warned the Bush administration that it risks the
collapse of the nuclear deal if it fails to push the NSG to accept conditions
that would punish India for testing nuclear weapons.
His spokeswoman, Lynne Weil, said
Berman was releasing the letter because he "wants to make sure his
colleagues have all the relevant information before they are asked to make a
decision" on the accord.
The Indian government, in an online
response to news reports, said it hoped a waiver from the NSG would be
forthcoming. It said it had a unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing.
Supporters of the civilian nuclear
deal say atomic cooperation with India would provide crucial energy
to a democratic, economically vibrant country. Critics say it would ruin global
efforts to stop the spread of atomic weapons and boost India's nuclear
arsenal.