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International nuclear rules bent for India deal – earth – 08 September 2008 – New Scientist Tech

International nuclear rules bent for India deal

• 15:46 08 September 2008
• NewScientist.com news service
• Anil Ananthaswamy

  Is it OK to bend international rules over the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons? That’s the question raised by the lifting of ban that has prevented India from trading in commercial nuclear fuel, equipment and technology.

  The Nuclear Supplier’s Group, a cartel of 45 member countries, voted on Saturday in Vienna, Austria, to waive the stringent requirements on nuclear commerce that had been imposed on India ever since it tested a nuclear bomb in 1974.

  After decades as a nuclear pariah, India now becomes the only country that can trade in nuclear materials without being a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT). The country has refused to sign the NPT, calling it discriminatory because it only allows the US, UK, France, Russia and China to legally possess nuclear weapons.

  The NSG’s special waiver exempts India from signing the treaty and is crucial for a proposed nuclear trade agreement between the US and India.

International nuclear rules bent for India deal – earth – 08 September 2008 – New Scientist Tech

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September 18, 2008 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics