International Nuclear Rules Organization Begins Meeting Today

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the founder and co-chair of the House Bipartisan Task Force on Nonproliferation, encouraged the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) to attach important nonproliferation conditions to any rule-waiver for India. The NSG started a two-day meeting today to review the Bush Administration’s request that international nuclear nonproliferation rules be waived for India, which for three decades has been blocked from buying nuclear materials and technologies from other countries.

Rep. Markey said, "The Bush Administration today delivered to the NSG a draft rule-change for India that undermines the entire international framework from limiting the spread of nuclear weapons. President Bush's proposal contains  no nonproliferation controls whatsoever. 

"When every single one of the 45 NSG member countries has signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, why should India get a free pass?  When Pakistan has warned that carving out a huge exemption for India increases the risk of a nuclear arms race in the subcontinent, why should we allow India to vastly increase its nuclear weapons program? As the end of his term nears, President Bush seeks to grant India a ‘proliferation pardon', excusing its past violations of arms control norms.  The NSG should reject this ill-considered, unwise and unproductive plan. 

"Since the NSG can only change its rules by consensus, every one of its 45 members has veto power over this disastrous attempt to gut the global nonproliferation system. If these countries do not stand up and demand real nonproliferation conditions on the proposed nuclear cooperation agreement with India, the NSG may as well be voting itself out of existence," concluded Rep. Markey.