The Citizens' Nuclear Information Center strongly protests the law passed yesterday by the US Congress to enable nuclear trade between the US and India. Allowing nuclear cooperation with India, which conducted nuclear tests in 1974 and 1998, provides an excuse for the nuclear weapons programs of Pakistan and North Korea and of any other would-be proliferator. Japan of all countries, having suffered the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, must oppose this deal.
Pakistan allowed nuclear proliferation to flourish via the nuclear black market. Now it is eyeing increased nuclear cooperation with China and demanding the same treatment as India. Furthermore, the US-India deal sends the message to North Korea that, if it is patient, before long it too will be accepted into the nuclear club.
Fortunately, Japan is able to prevent this nightmare scenario from occurring. At present, nuclear trade with India is restricted under the rules of the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) of countries. Changes to NSG rules can only be made by consensus, so if Japan opposes lifting sanctions on nuclear trade with India, the US-India nuclear deal cannot proceed.
Exempting India from NSG rules will promote nuclear proliferation and a nuclear arms race in Asia. It is therefore not in Japan's national interest to support the US-India nuclear deal. For the sake of Japan's security and for the sake of world peace, we demand that the Japanese government oppose lifting NSG restrictions on nuclear trade with India.
Hideyuki Ban
CNIC Co-Director
Click here for 6 September 2006 petition by NGOs to the Japanese government.
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