The Writing
on the Wall
By Dr Shireen M Mazari
Given that most Pakistani leaders
in the past, including those with "heavy"
electoral mandates, have tolerated all manner of
insults simply for a "photo op" with the
US President, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz deserves
credit for taking the difficult decision to cancel
his visit to the US as was the need of the hour.
Not that this is the first instance in which we
have chosen to assert our own national interest
and dignity - after all, we have stood our ground
on Iraq and also, so far, on the Iran pipeline project.
But the Aziz cancellation came at a critical time
and was in response to the mere 30-minute photo
op that the US President had offered -- this in
the immediate aftermath of the Indian Premier's
highly touted visit which brought the US and India
into strategic embrace.
In fact, it would have been absurd for our Premier
to continue with his US visit given that even for
the most obtuse writing on the wall regarding the
US and its relationship with India is only too clear.
Preceding the Indian Premier's visit to Washington,
India and the US signed a 10-year defense agreement,
which has already been discussed earlier in these
columns. We now see a unique nuclear agreement between
India and the US, which effectively puts paid to
the international non-proliferation agenda, since
it effectively recognizes India's nuclear-weapon
status. It does so by seeking to separate Indian
military nuclear facilities from the civilian facilities,
which India, as a quid pro quo, will now place under
IAEA safeguards. Linked to all this is the US commitment
to provide nuclear technological assistance to India.
For US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns to
declare that all this was done in the case of India
but could not probably be done in the case of Pakistan
was because "India has a record of non-proliferation
which is exceptional; very strong commitment to
protection of fissile material, other nuclear materials
and nuclear technology; and there is a transparency
about India's program, which has been welcomed."
Now, we know the Americans have distorted the English
language, but how is India's non-proliferation record
"exceptional"? In 1975, India signed a
nuclear cooperation agreement with Iran and began
helping in the completion of the Bushehr plant between
1980-1983, including the sending of nuclear scientists
and engineers to Iran in November 1982. In 1991,
despite US opposition, India negotiated the sale
of a 10-megawatt nuclear reactor to Iran and, as
we all know, Dr Prasad worked in Bushehr after he
retired in July 2000 as head of the Nuclear Corporation
of India. It is no wonder that Iran's top nuclear
negotiator, Hasan Rowhani, visited New Delhi for
talks with the Indian Prime Minister in February
2004!
And that is not all. In 1992, India also supplied
thiodyglycol, and other chemicals, to Iran; and
in 1993, United Phosphorous of India supplied Iran
with 30 tones of trimethyl-phosphite. It is also
known that an Indian company exported chemicals
to Iraq for Saddam's missile program and a director
of that company, Hans Raj Shiv, was under arrest
in New Delhi. And no one is talking much about the
presence of retired Indian nuclear scientists in
Libya. Is this an exceptional non-proliferation
record?
As for a strong commitment to protection of fissile
material, there is a record of nuclear thefts and
missing fissile material in India, including an
ISSI study based primarily on Indian sources, which
is being sent to educate Mr Burns. He is, of course,
correct on India's transparency in terms of its
nuclear weapons program. Since 1974, India has made
no effort to conceal its desire for a nuclear-weapons
capability. And yet the world merely turned a blind
eye to this "transparent" nuclear ambition.
So, one can assume now that the US is applauding
such ambitions as long as they are transparent!
Please, Mr Burns and others in the US Administration,
stop handing us a load of rubbish in terms of why
the US has chosen to undermine its own non-proliferation
agenda and give effective recognition to India's
nuclear status. Some of us had expressed a fear,
all along, that the US would seek to delink India's
nuclear status from Pakistan's -- giving legitimacy
to the former while targeting the latter. This has
now come to pass. It is indeed ironic that the US,
which was in the forefront in the creation of the
Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and in pushing for
full-scope safeguards and enlargement of the NSG's
list of sensitive items, now wants to modify the
same rules and accommodate India as a "special
case".
India has been quick in moving ahead and targeting
Pakistan's nuclear program by raising concerns about
its command and control. Given that Pakistan's National
Command Authority (NCA) has been in place far longer
than India's, and is the most publicly explained
NCA, it is now clear that India has now started
on the road of seeking to undermine Pakistan's nuclear
capability. This is a dangerous game for India to
draw the US into because it should be clear to all
and sundry that Pakistan has sacrificed too much
to allow anyone to rollback this capability. As
for the outcry of extremists, given that the BJP
controlled India's nuclear program till recently,
India should look inwards to ensure that these extremists
who conducted the genocide of Muslims in Gujarat
do not come to power again.
In fact, India has acquired a new sense of recklessness
after the Singh visit to Washington. Indian forces
have begun deliberate targeting and killing of innocent
teenagers in Occupied Kashmir -- the latest being
on Sunday, July 24, when three teenage boys were
shot dead and one seriously wounded. Also, India
has adopted a new belligerency towards Pakistan
on the Kashmir front while attempting to gradually
extricate itself from the pipeline project. Despite
Minister Ayer's reassurances, Pakistan should be
alert to the possibility that RAW would like to
create an incident which would not only provide
India with a face-saving exit strategy out of the
pipeline project, but also undermine the project
as a whole -- a major aim of the US at present.
In view of these developments, Pakistan should re-evaluate
US intent towards Pakistan -- including that in
terms of its nuclear status. Undoubtedly, the US
having de-linked India from Pakistan on the nuclear
issue, one should expect a more concerted and overt
program targeting Pakistan's nuclear assets…
(The writer is Director General of the Institute
of Strategic Studies in Islamabad. Courtesy The
News)
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