India and US seal accord on nuclear energy policies
The US yesterday sealed an historic deal with India that will enable the emerging Asian power to shake off its status as a nuclear pariah and gain access to the international civil nuclear energy market.
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The agreement concludes months of negotiations over the terms under which India would open its civilian nuclear industry to international inspection. It could provide George W. Bush, US president, with a rare foreign policy success at a time when his Middle East policy faces constant criticism.
Mr Bush said: "This was not an easy agreement ... to conclude, but it's necessary for our peoples and I look forward to working with the US Congress to change decades of law."
The groundbreaking deal is at the centre of an effort to transform relations with India.
It involves India putting 65 per cent of its nuclear power production by megawattage under international safeguards.
It marks the first time it has agreed to such extensive oversight.
The onus is now on the US to sell the deal to Congress, which must authorise any change to the US Atomic Energy Act of 1954.
Mr Bush said: "Short-term history shows that the US and India were divided and didn't have much of a relationship and there are laws on the books which reflect that . . . Our relations are changing dramatically. Times change."
However, the proposal is likely to face fierce criticism in the US, where non-proliferation hawks have attacked the proposal as legitimising India as a nuclear weapons power while it remains outside the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. They argue it sets a precedent that will encourage other countries to develop weapons programmes.
Nicholas Burns, undersecretary of state for political affairs, yesterday denied that charge, highlighting India's record in controlling proliferation.
"Contrast that with Iran and North Korea. Both acted against the wishes of the int-ernational community, Iran having withheld information from the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] for 18 years, and North Korea you know about."
Mr Bush, who has made energy prices a key theme this year, said he would tell Congress that helping India, whose economy is projected to be one of the five largest by 2020, develop civil nuclear energy would reduce demand for fossil fuels and lower petrol pump prices for US consumers.
Left parties and Muslim groups held demonstrations across India for the second day yesterday in protest at what they said was the abandonment of India's longstanding commitment to non-alignment, anti-imperialism and self-reliance.
In Pakistan, twin bomb blasts near the US consulate in Karachi killed four people, including a US diplomat, wounded dozens just before Mr Bush's joint press conference with Manmohan Singh, India's prime minister.
美印达成民用核协议
美国昨天与印度达成一项历史性协议，印度这个亚洲新兴大国将从此摆脱“核贱民” (nuclear pariah)地位，并可进入国际民用核能源市场。
该协议给长达数月的紧张谈判划上了句号，并可能使美国总统布什(George W. Bush)在其中东外交政策不断遭到批评之际，获得一次难得的外交政策胜利。双方谈判的内容，是有关印度民用核工业向国际原子能机构开放并接受检查的条件。
布什先生表示：“达成……这项协议不容易，但两国人民和我有必要期盼与美国国会合作，修改长达数十年的法律。”
这一开创性的协议，是美国改变与印度关系这一努力的中心内容。根据协议，印度必须将65%的核电生产设施置于国际监督之下。协议标志着印度首次同意接受如此广泛的监督。
美国政府目前的责任是就此协议说服国会，因为美国《联邦原子能法》(Atomic Energy Act)的任何修改必须征得美国国会的批准。布什总统称：“短期历史表明，美国和印度存在分歧，且双方的关系并不怎样，现行的一些法律就反映了这一点……我们的关系正经历戏剧性的变化。时代在变。”
但该提案可能会遭到美国国内的激烈批评，美国国内主张核不扩散的鹰派人士已攻击这项提案。他们指出，该提案将使印度作为一个核武器大国的地位合法化，而它仍处于《不扩散核武器条约》(NPT)之外。他们称，一旦开此先例，将鼓励其它国家发展核武计划。
布什总统已将能源价格列为今年的关键议题，他表示将告诉国会，帮助印度发展民用核能将减少对化石燃料的需求，并降低美国消费者购买汽油的价格。预计到2020年，印度将跻身世界前5大经济体。
