US supports India's thirst for nuclear acitivity

In Washington, the Bush Administration is making a nuclear deal with India. Intense negotiations
are occurring over the US nuclear agreement with India to separate India’s civilian and nuclear
energy programs over the next decade, and receive help from professional US nuclear
technicians., and nuclear fuel to build a nuclear reactor. President Bush signed this agreement,
but Congress and the Senate are handling the document with caution and believe it should stay
“untouched”. India would have to have international inspections and military occupancy if the
agreement goes forth. Bush urged Congress to approve, declaring that India is non-proliferating.
Other backers say that a nuclear reactor would reduce the need for oil, foster positive US-India
relations, and give India’s economy a chance to blossom. Critics, however, believe that
encouraging nuclear activity in India, former known as a “nuclear renegade” would set a poor
example for Iran, and North Korea, and “encourage Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Ukraine, among
other nations, to rethink their current non-nuclear status.”

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was a treaty proposed by Ireland and open for signature
July 1, 1968 to diminish the spread and use of nuclear weapons. One-hundred and eighty-eight
sovereign powers have signed it, although some have not ratified it yet. It was ratified by the
United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, and forty more signatory states. The
three pillars of the treaty are non-proliferation (or stopping the spread of nuclear arms),
disarmament, and the right to peacefully use nuclear technology. However, the US sells nuclear
arms to Germany, Turkey, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands.