Take a fair call
21:43 IST, Thursday, August 28, 2008, Daily News & Analysis,

India is the best candidate to prepare the outdated nuclear regime for new challenges

In recent weeks there has been opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal at the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG), and also among some lawmakers in the US who argue that India should continue to be under sanctions. In fact some US lawmakers like Ed Markey and Ellen Tauscher, nettled that the NSG might give relief to India, now say that the NSG is an “obscure organisation”. Their argument is oxymoronic — if the NSG is an obscure organisation, why bother about its stand?

Folks like Markey, and countries like New Zealand and Austria, that oppose the deal are no doubt pursuing a noble vision that seeks to make our planet safe from the vagaries of the atom — but their strategy is grossly misplaced. There are only two ways in which humankind can protect itself from the dangers that can be unleashed by the atom. The more rational solution is for all nations to disarm and disband their nuclear stockpiles. It is most unfortunate that the global community has done virtually nothing on this front, other than paying lip-service and playing diplomatic games without any serious intent. The second alternative is a global system of safeguards which reflects 21st century realities rather than archaic thinking about atoms for peace.

Jawaharlal Nehru was one of the first world leaders to call and genuinely push for disarmament — a refrain which has been carried by successive Indian administrations over the past half a century. The archives of global multilateral fora — ranging from the United Nations to the Non Aligned Movement — are littered with pithy efforts by India to persuade nations to rid themselves of the addiction and machismo of atomic power.

But half a century ago, and till the end of the 20th century, who listened to India? India was like a bleating lamb while the big wolves were busy playing their power games.

And now we have another wild card — non-state actors. Acquisition of weapons of mass destruction by non-state actors, either via wilful state-sponsored terror or via any illegal means is a nightmare for all of us. This makes the rationale for disarmament even more urgent than at any time of world history. This is the bull’s eye that the NSG should be aiming for, and here India stands shoulder to shoulder with them.

Let us strip away the various jargon-filled clichés being used to argue against India. The simple fact is that here is one-sixth of humanity which has never proliferated, and which has always been in the vanguard of responsible exploitation of the atom. The country needs nuclear energy as one of its portfolio sources to fuel its economic engine for development. It beats common sense that any global grouping would seek to deny this path of progress to India.
 
This archaic and dysfunctional nuclear regime needs to be reformed to cope with challenges of the present times. There is no better candidate than India to push the envelope for reforming the global paradigm of atoms for peace and trust. This is exactly what the Indo-US nuclear deal has attempted.

In this misplaced argument opposing India’s access to atoms, two non-relevant issues are often sought to be interjected. One relates to Pakistan, and the other relates to countries like Iran and North Korea. It is said that India’s access to peaceful atoms meant for nuclear energy will spur a nuclear arms race with Pakistan. Plus, it is argued that North Korea and other rogue states will use India’s example as a basis to advance their own nefarious designs.

Alas, these arguments again illustrate the imperfect current nuclear regime that this article is bemoaning. Is the global regime so weak that it cannot curb pursuit of illegal atoms? If that is the case, then the regime needs to be urgently reformed. It is most regrettable that the NSG countries be allowed to penalise India merely because of their own shortcomings in not being able to reign in the rogue states. Why should India pay a price for inadequacies of the present nuclear order? If the present system is not able to defang the rogues, and on top of it penalises the good guys merely to have a better argument against the bad guys - then what can we say, other than that there is something rotten in the state of Denmark?

Honourable members of every legislative assembly on this planet, and the US Congress, are invited to take urgent leadership to focus on a holistic and fair approach regarding this crucial issue. This reformed approach includes building the right firewalls around rogue state and non-state actors, and not being cowed down by irrelevant arguments of the rogues.

Stop penalising the good guys who are one sixth of humanity and have a genuine need, merely because you cannot tackle the bad guys. 

The writer is president of The Imagindia Institute