Nuclear Suppliers Group approves Bush's US-India nuclear trade deal

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7601932.stm

US-India nuclear accord approved

A group of nations which regulates global nuclear trade has approved a US proposal to lift restrictions on selling nuclear technology to India.

The 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) did not endorse the original plan last month, forcing the US to come back with a revised proposal.

The controversial deal now needs to be ratified by the US Congress before it can be implemented.

India says the deal is vital for it to meet its civil energy demands.

The NSG approval came after India made a formal pledge to keep its non-proliferation commitments and to uphold a voluntary moratorium on nuclear tests.

It took nearly three days of protracted negotiations in Vienna to reach agreement.

Critics of the deal say it creates a dangerous precedent - effectively allowing India to expand its nuclear power industry without requiring it to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as other nations must.

They say the deal would undermine the arguments for isolating Iran over its nuclear programme and be a disaster for international non-proliferation efforts.

'Huge difference'

The US restricted nuclear co-operation with India after it tested a nuclear weapon in 1974.

The current deal is the centrepiece of US efforts to bolster ties with India.

There had been doubts that the NSG would approve the proposal after reports of concerns that the latest revisions were cosmetic and did not clarify whether the deal would enable India to subvert agreements meant to stop production and testing of nuclear weapons.

But a report in the Washington Post newspaper said that the Bush administration had told the US Congress in a "secret" letter that the US had the right to stop nuclear trade with India should the latter conduct a nuclear weapons test.

The letter to the late Tom Lantos, chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, said: "The fuel supply assurances are not, however, meant to insulate India against the consequences of a nuclear explosive test or a violation of non-proliferation commitments."

India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the communists - former allies of the governing Congress party who withdrew support for the government over the nuclear deal - have said the contents of the letter show the government is "deceiving" the country.

"There is a huge difference between what the US government is telling its Congress and what our government is telling us," BJP leader Yashwant Sinha told reporters.

Under the terms of the deal, India would open 14 civilian nuclear facilities to inspection - but its nuclear weapons sites would remain off-limits.

Critics fear assistance to India's civil programme could free-up additional radioactive material for bomb-making purposes.