Nuclear Cooperation

President Obama should make his stance clear on the issues of nuclear cooperation between China and Pakistan and perhaps take up the issue with Hu Jintao when he visits Washington DC early next year.

The DPJ has relaxed its earlier rigid position and is no longer demanding that India join the NPT as a pre-condition for the nuclear pact.

The NSG will be in trouble if China goes ahead with its plan to sell nuclear reactors to a non-NPT country like Pakistan.

The urge to sign a nuclear agreement with India is driven by Japan’s entrepreneurial interest and by the new emphasis on technology exports as a part of economic growth strategy.

Tacit Chinese endorsement of the policies pursued by North Korea and Myanmar has emboldened them to persist with policies that are detrimental for peace and stability in the region.

Given the rapidly evolving situation in West Asia, and the growing danger of new threats like nuclear terrorism, it would seem that the time has come for Israel to come clean on its nuclear arsenal.

Australia is not finding it economically prudent and diplomatically rational to deny uranium to India, while other countries profit from nuclear commerce with India.

Bangladesh faces a shortage of electric power and is planning to meet the shortfall by setting up nuclear power plants. Significantly, this development has occurred at a time when the country is being ruled by a caretaker government with the backing of the military. The military in Bangladesh is trying to carve out a permanent place for itself in governance by creating a National Security Council.

With President Bush signing the India-US nuclear co-operation bill into law, critics and supporters of the bill have once again reinforced their stated positions over the future benefits and losses accruing to both countries as well as the world at large. While supporters have left no stone unturned in emphasising upon the strategic, bilateral and political importance of the bill, critics have flatly described it as an 'historical mistake' which will hound efforts to curb nuclear proliferation in years to come.