The Rush to a Flawed Nuclear Deal
by Kingston Reif [contact information]
by Leonor Tomero [contact information]
Published in the Washington Post on July 12, 2008
In his July 7 op-ed piece, "New Life for the India Nuclear Pact," Bill Emmott said that Congress must not allow India's close ties with Iran to hold up the U.S.-India nuclear deal and that the deal is worth pursuing.
In reality, the India-Iran relationship should be cause for concern. The two countries have undertaken two joint naval exercises, and Indian companies have been subject to sanctions by the United States for exporting expertise and technology related to weapons of mass destruction to Iran.
Ultimately, however, India's close relationship with Iran isn't the most serious problem with the pact. Rather than integrating India into the nonproliferation mainstream, the proposed deal would set a risky double standard that would shatter the delicate bargain upon which the global nonproliferation regime is based.
In addition, by increasing India's capability to produce nuclear weapons, the deal will exacerbate an already perilous nuclear arms race in South Asia, because Pakistan is likely to respond by expanding its own nuclear capability.
The Bush administration's desire to complete the deal before it leaves office cannot be allowed to come to fruition at the expense of key U.S. nonproliferation objectives. The deal should be left to the next administration and the next Congress, where, we hope, its numerous shortcomings will be remedied.
KINGSTON REIF
Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellow
LEONOR TOMERO
Director of Non-Proliferation
Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
Washington
Kingston Reif 202-546-0795 ext. 2103 kreif@armscontrolcenter.org
Kingston Reif is the Deputy Director of Nuclear Non-Proliferation at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, where his work focuses on arms control, nuclear nonproliferation, nuclear weapons, and preventing nuclear terrorism. He has published letters and articles on nuclear weapons policy in such venues as the Washington Post, Washington Times, Wall Street Journal, Survival, Defense News, and Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Leonor Tomero 202-546-0795 ext. 2104 ltomero@armscontrolcenter.org
Leonor Tomero is the Director of Nuclear Non-Proliferation at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation where her work focuses on nonproliferation, nuclear weapons, nuclear reprocessing, North Korea, and nuclear terrorism. Tomero is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of International Law and Politics at Georgetown University. She has published letters and articles in the Washington Post, Foreign Policy, TomPaine.com, and Hartford Courant and is frequently quoted in national print, TV, and radio media.