Australia’s change to sell uranium to India will contribute to regional nuclear arms race
This power play fails to charm, The Age, M.V. Ramana, November 18, 2011 Exporting uranium to India would fly in the face of international standards and the cause of disarmament. On the same day that Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced moves to end the Labor Party’s long-standing ban on selling uranium to India, a long-range nuclear-capable missile fired from an Indian military base landed in international waters off the Bay of Bengal. Gillard’s announcement came after intense pressure was placed on the government to change its rules on nuclear technology exports and to lift the ban on selling uranium to India. That pressure was applied even though India has not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty or agreed to stop making fissile materials for use in nuclear weapons.
The possibility of selling uranium to India results from the 2008 decision by the Nuclear Suppliers Group to lift the ban on nuclear trade with that country. The basic bargain underlying the non-proliferation treaty is that non-weapon states gain access to nuclear technology and materials in exchange for giving up the possibility of developing nuclear weapons. Implicit in this bargain is that no country that acquired nuclear weapons after 1967 would gain access to nuclear technology.
The 2008 decision by the nuclear supplier group is a clear violation of this implicit understanding. Nonetheless, countries interested in promoting international standards and nuclear disarmament, such as Australia, should continue to hold on to the bargain….
Pakistan and China are expected to react to this by further developing their own arsenals and military strategies. Export of uranium from Australia would contribute, albeit indirectly, to this three-way nuclear arms race. http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/this-power-play-fails-to-charm-20111117-1nl17.html#ixzz1e794yUfv
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