Posted on 10/20/2005 6:20:18 AM PDT by CarrotAndStick
Paris, October 20: Washington's moves to cooperate with India, in developing nuclear energy, is a one-off situation based on India's "responsible" track record, which sets it apart from other aspiring nuclear powers, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns has said.
"This cooperation that we're extending to India is unique to India. It is not going to be replicated to other countries," Burns said in Paris on Wednesday on the eve of a trip to India.
He said that India differed markedly from Iran or Pakistan, as it has not been a source of nuclear proliferation and had been "transparent" about its programme. He denied that Washington was employing double standards by opposing Iran's nuclear activities, while offering to help India with its own.
"If you look at India's record, actually it's the reverse of Iran's record. India has been a responsible country in safeguarding its nuclear technology over the past 30 years," he said at the US embassy in Paris.
Burns added, even though India was not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, a deal to promote India's civil nuclear energy programme, would bring the country "into effective compliance with all the international norms" of non-proliferation.
Pakistan - though "an important country in the war against al-Qaeda" – was "a country that has proliferated in the past to a major degree", he said.
He added that "we have a relationship with Pakistan, but it doesn't extend to the kind of civil nuclear energy cooperation we intend to have with India."
Fantastic, Bravo Bush
India is in the convienient position to choose its partners by oneself. The country is simply too big and too important to be such a easy influenceable US-ally like the smaller European nations during the cold war. If there is an alliance it will be a alliance at the same eye level. This will make relations complicated. On the other hand India is in bad need of good friends. We all know that Pakistan is just a nuisance. In fact they are irrelevant. The real threat to India is China and its growing hunger of influence and international standing.
WoW! Pretty emphatic words, for diplomatese.
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