Gareth Evans slams Indo-US nuclear deal

Australia`s non-proliferation envoy Gareth Evans has slammed the landmark Indo-US nuclear deal, saying it was a major hurdle in the goal of a nuclear free world.

New York: Australia`s
non-proliferation envoy Gareth Evans has slammed the landmark
Indo-US nuclear deal, saying it was a major hurdle in the goal
of a nuclear free world.

"Everybody knows that from India`s point of view it
was a brilliant success but from the point of view of
non-proliferation objectives it wasn`t as helpful as it could
have been," Evans told journalists here.

Evans, who is the co-chair of International Commission
for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament - a joint
initiative of the governments of Japan and Australia, was
speaking after presenting a report called `Eliminating Nuclear
Threats: A Practical Agenda for Global Policymakers.`

One of the contributors for the report is former
National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra.

Evans noted that that the main fault with the Indo-US
nuclear deal was that the commitments made by the Indian
governments were insufficient and set a bad precedent.

"It was a very bad deal from the point of view of
non-proliferation and the kinds of principles that most of us
are committed to simply because it did not demand enough of
the Indian government in terms of issues such as non
production of fissile material or even non resumption of
testing," he said.

Noting that India`s past behaviour in terms of non-proliferation had been "excellent", Evans said similar deals
should have much more stringent future commitments criterion
in order to get uranium or cooperation on nuclear technology.

However, Evans noted that the "good" side of the deal
was that India had come under a kind of check under the
arrangement even though it remained outside the NPT regime.

"The extent to which the deal involved India
inspections of civil facilities and so on in a way that had
not previously been the case that does show that there is a
way forward in terms of parallel process to which you can get
people signed up to these commitments without actually joining
the NPT," he said.

The senior Australian politician underlined that
report issued by commission recognised that the nuclear
non-proliferation regime would have to deal with present-day
realties if it wanted to succeed in the long-run.

"We do have to recognise the reality of those three
elephants outside the room, India, Pakistan and Israel and not
just be in denial about that reality and try and find
constructive ways forward and brining them within these
disciplines," he said.

Evans underlined that the Indo-US nuclear deal should
not be considered an obstacle in pursuing negotiations for
nuclear-non-proliferation.

"I hope that this issue does not spoil in anyway the
effective negotiations of sensible outcomes at the NPT review
conference," he said.

The NPT review conference, to be held in May will
examine the state of the NPT in terms of non-proliferation,
disarmament and peaceful use of nuclear energy.

PTI

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