Madam, - The nuclear co-operation deal between US president George Bush and India's prime minister Manmohan Singh (Editorial, July 9th) is the agreement which Dermot Ahern, when minister for foreign affairs, described as "an arrow through the heart of the NPT [Non-Proliferation Treaty]" when he addressed the Article VI Forum in Dublin Castle earlier this year.
India, like Pakistan and Israel, is not an NPT signatory and has developed nuclear weapons outside the treaty. The US-India nuclear agreement would endorse and facilitate this outlaw behaviour and would not even require India to accept the same responsibilities as NPT signatories: full-scope IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) safeguards for non-nuclear- weapon states and a commitment from nuclear-weapon states to negotiate in good faith for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
The fact that India's civilian nuclear facilities would be open for inspection as part of this agreement has been hailed as good news for the non-proliferation system in some quarters (including Mr Mohamed El Baredei, director general of the IAEA). It isn't.
As a result of this deal, other de facto nuclear states could claim the same preferential treatment. Some non-nuclear-weapon states in the NPT, who are already disenchanted with the failure of the five acknowledged nuclear-weapon states (the US, France, UK, China and Russia) to comply with NPT rules, could view the renunciation of nuclear weapons as no longer in their national interest. The India-Pakistan nuclear arms race could be intensified. Finally, the deal could open the way for other nuclear-powered states that are ready and eager to enter into similar deals which are illegal under NPT rules.
The NPT is not perfect and it has been severely undermined by the refusal of the five acknowledged nuclear-weapon states to honour Article VI of the treaty, which obliges them to reduce and eliminate their nuclear arsenals.Nevertheless, it is widely acknowledged as our present best hope of ridding the world of nuclear weapons and as such it must be protected from further erosion.
Ireland is currently on the board of the IAEA and is a member of the NSG and is therefore a key player in this scenario.
This country has a proud track record in the field of nuclear weapon non-proliferation for nearly 50 years. However, there are great vested interests at play here which will make it difficult to resist being stampeded into making decisions to fit the political timetables in the US and India. - Yours, etc,
MARY McCARRICK, On behalf of Irish CND, Dublin 6.