Chicago Tribune
Saturday, August 06, 2005

Editorial: Inviting India to join the club

India became the world's sixth nuclear power when it exploded a bomb in 1974. While the Indians celebrated their technical prowess, the rest of the world shuddered over the possibility of a nuclear arms race in developing countries. Canada, the U.S. and other countries had been helping India develop civilian nuclear capabilities. But they angrily halted further assistance with the proof that India had siphoned off some of that help to build a bomb.

Ever since, India has been a nuclear pariah.

Now that is changing. Recently President Bush announced that the U.S. would help India get parts and import fuel for nuclear power plants. In essence, India would be welcomed into the rarefied club of bomb-wielding nuclear powers, in all but title. In return, India would allow international inspections and safeguards on its civilian nuclear program, refrain from further weapons tests and also from transferring arms technology to other countries.

This is a stunning deal that carries some risks, but also the potential for far larger rewards.

Many non-proliferation advocates are outraged because they say the deal reneges on the basic bargain of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. That deal is simple: If you promise not to build weapons, those countries with nuclear expertise are encouraged to help you develop peaceful nuclear power. The treaty has been largely successful in persuading countries not to acquire nuclear weapons since the 1970s.

If India is able not only to build the weapons but also to get the help allowed in the treaty, why should other governments not aim to do likewise, the critics ask. That's potentially troubling, but not likely to happen. Almost every nation in the world already has signed the treaty; they're unlikely to back out now.

Pakistan, India's neighbor and arch-rival, now seems almost certain to seek the same blessing for its nuclear status. But the U.S. and other nuclear states can easily parry that request, given Pakistan's abysmal record as a nuclear outlaw whose chief nuclear scientist ran a black market in weapons technology for years.

More worrisome is whether the deal could undercut U.S. and European efforts to disarm North Korea and blunt Iran's nuclear ambitions. Put it this way: It won't help. It will likely be used for propaganda by those countries' negotiators. But here's the reality: Those nations have been developing nuclear expertise and weapons for decades in what they perceive as their national interests. What India gets, or doesn't get, is largely irrelevant to those calculations.

The deal makes sense for several reasons.

First, India is a rising global power. It is in America's interest to forge closer ties. Second, India already has nuclear weapons and has had them for a long time. No amount of argument from the U.S. will change that. Third, the point of international non-proliferation efforts is to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, particularly to terrorists, by imposing tough safeguards, enhanced security and better controls over the export of dangerous technology. With this deal, India would join many of those critical efforts.

Under the deal, India would refrain from transferring nuclear technology that would allow nations to enrich uranium or reprocess plutonium, both key to bomb making, if those nations didn't already have such equipment. India also would support a worldwide halt in production of fissile material for bombs and a moratorium on further nuclear testing. Those are all important steps that have been delayed by political squabbling for too long.

The Bush administration may have a steep road ahead, to persuade not only Congress but also 40-plus countries in the Nuclear Suppliers Group to go along with the deal. The track record on this is not promising.

The U.S., India and the other nuclear countries face common foes: North Korea, Iran and terrorists around the globe seeking nuclear weapons. Making India a full partner in efforts to stop the spread of weapons is bound to help.