Tuesday, March 07, 2006

US + India + Nuclear Power = North Korea?

On the first leg of his South Asia tour, President Bush concluded a deal with India that will provide nuclear power to the large industrializing nation in an effort to ease its power needs (and some think in order to hem in China). The deal came under criticism almost immediately from all corners of the globe. Amidst that criticism, apparently everyone else missed that El Barradei warmly welcomed the idea. Bush has been on the defensive since the deal was signed (along with the UAE, he has been a deal making fiend lately). One of the obvious criticisms has been about the signal this sends to Iran and N Korea. They, on the surface, seem to be asking for the same thing we just gave to India…nuclear India.

While it certainly is valid that this might make them bitter (as if they weren’t already), claims that this treaty is destroying the Non-Proliferation Treaty lack sufficient support. North Korea itself was quick to point out a nuclear ‘double standard’ that they feel is unfairly biased against them. But there is a reason that this is different; India has not been in violation of the NPT recently (obviously, they creation and testing of their own bomb is a little troublesome) and certainly have a less troublesome recent history than NK does in regards to the NPT. Similarly, India represents a categorically different presence on the global political landscape. India and its troubled but growing democracy is a developing success story. N Korea is a contentious threat.

Another important thing to note, that no one else seems to have noticed at all, is that N Korea was handed the olive branch long before India was. The NK nuclear crisis cut off the construction of nuclear power plants in N. Korea. No one seems to remember that it was only in January that the KEDO team withdrew. I would fully agree with the cries of hypocrisy if, when Bush went to Pakistan, he had solidified a deal with Musharref to help Pakistan develop nuclear power plants. Given Pakistan’s recent history and A. Q. Khan’s antics, this didn’t happen. In my estimation, this isn’t quite as lopsided a diplomacy as some would have us think.

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