Hype And Reality II

The hopefully positive outcome of the visit of President Hu Jintao to Indiafrom November 20 to 23, 2006, was the indication, which started coming ineven before his visit, of a seeming change in China's attitude to India's questfor civilian nuclear energy technology and equipment in order to meet thegrowing energy demands of its fast-growing economy. Its attitude is no longernegative as it was at least till June, 2006. It is seemingly positive now, butwhether this change to the positive is unconditional or conditional upon theNuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG) adopting a similar stance towards Pakistan tooremains to be seen.

Between July, 2005, when India and the US signed the bilateral deal oncivilian nuclear co-operation, and June, 2006, Beijing's reaction wasunmistakably unenthusiastic. It sought to justify its lack of enthusiasm onthe ground that such a special waiver to India, when it has not signed theNuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and not given up its military nuclearambitions, could weaken the global non-proliferation architecture.

While Chinese government spokespersons avoided outspoken comments on theIndia-US deal while making obvious their lack of enthusiasm for it, the government-controlledmedia in China observed no such restraint. For example, the People's Dailywrote on November 4, 2005: 

"This would be a hard blow on America's leading role in the global proliferation prevention system as well as the system itself. This will bring about a series of negative impacts.  Now that the United States buys another country in with nuclear technologies in defiance of international treaty, other nuclear suppliers also have their own partners of interest as well as good reasons to copy what the United States did.  A domino effect of nuclear proliferation, once turned into reality, will definitely lead to global nuclear proliferation and competition.  Always calling itself a 'guard' for nuclear proliferation prevention, the US often condemns other countries for irresponsible transfers but this time, it hesitates not a bit in revising laws, taking the lead in 'making an exception' (in the case of India).Such an act of the United States once again proves that America is not at all a 'guard' of NPT and the treaty, however, is no more than a disguise serving the US interest.  The most immediate reason for the foundation of NSG (Nuclear Suppliers Group) was India's first nuclear test in 1974, after which the United States instantly cut off its nuclear cooperation with India and established the NSG in 1975 to restrict selling sensitive nuclear technologies and raw materials to non-NPT countries.  Over the past 30 years, the United States has always been trying to prevent India from access to nuclear technologies. Today, however, the United States wants a change."

The editorial came in the wake of a meeting of the NSG on October 20, 2005,at which a US representative briefed the NSG members on the Indo-US deal andspoke of the US intention to move for the lifting of the NSG restrictionsagainst India after the passage of the enabling legislation by the US Congressand the finalisation of a formal bilateral agreement by India and the US.