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US President George W. Bush signed a landmark law on Monday allowing the sale of civilian nuclear technology and fuel to India, overturning a 30-year-old US ban on supplying India with nuclear fuel and technology. The ban was imposed in 1974 following India's first nuclear test.

The legislation allows the US to make a one-off exception for India to keep its nuclear weapons without signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The NPT stipulates that only countries having renounced nuclear weapons may qualify for civilian nuclear assistance.

Bush called the bill the foundation for a new strategic partnership with India and stressed that the two countries' relationship had never been more vital.

"The US needs an ally like India in South Asia, so it sacrifices national policy to meet its geo-strategic needs," said Han Hua, Director of Peking University's Center for Arms Control and Disarmament Studies.

In exchange for the US nuclear reactor and fuel, India has to submit civilian facilities for inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

India says 14 of its 22 nuclear facilities are civilian. Eight military plants, however, would remain off-limits to the IAEA inspectors.

Han described the cooperation as America's trade-off deal, imposing some conditions to let it get involved in and better supervise India's nuclear technology development.
 
Some Chinese security experts said the US action will undermine international efforts to prevent states like Iran and North Korea from acquiring nuclear weapons.

"We can see from the legislative amendment that the US in fact holds a double-standard on nuclear non-proliferation for its allies and rivals," said Gao Heng, a senior expert with the Institute of World Economics and Politics affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"The US-India deal may create obstacles for the ongoing negotiations with Iran and North Korea since it will let the two countries find another excuse to justify their possession of nuclear weapon," said Xu Guangyu, board member of China's Arms Control and Disarmament Association affiliated to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Xu also raised concerns about the potential nuclear arms race in South Asia caused by building up India's nuclear capacity.

The cooperation will break the existing strategic balance in South Asia, and let India continue to keep ahead in the arms race, according to Xu.

Commenting on the deal, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang Tuesday said nuclear cooperation for civilian use "should be conducive to safeguarding the principles and effectiveness of the international nuclear non-proliferation mechanism."

(China Daily December 20, 2006)