India and US - III

[dhu]

<b>India now firmly under US thumb</b>
S Rajagopalan
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->‘End-user pact brings it into non-proliferation mainstream’

The United States has termed the just-concluded end-user monitoring arrangement a “landmark” pact that brings India into the mainstream of nuclear non-proliferation.

“It’s a very significant agreement,” State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood said, without going into details of the pact and precisely how the verification process would be gone about.

<b>“We’re very proud and we believe that this agreement between the US and India is important in our overall global non-proliferation efforts, and we believe that this agreement has brought India into the nuclear non-proliferation mainstream,” </b>he said.

Asked about the strong reaction of Opposition parties in India who have termed the pact “a sell-out to the US”, Wood commented: <b>“India made a conscious decision to sign this agreement. India has said it’s in its best interests. We certainly think it’s in the interest of the United States.”</b>

“We think it’s an overall good agreement. And we will need to implement the agreement, and those activities are already underway,” he said. Meanwhile, the Department of Commerce has begun a review of its entire export control system, designed to reduce the export licensing burden on US companies, such as the first Validated End User (VEU) that was announced for India earlier this year.

“The VEU programme was designed to facilitate high technology trade in India and China by enabling certain items to be transferred without individual export licences. But much more needs to be done,” Commerce Secretary Gary Locke told the Washington International Trade Association on Wednesday.

Locke said the US export control system must adapt to the country’s changing security needs without inhibiting the competitiveness of American companies and institutions. “That competitiveness is critical to our economic and national security,” he said.

The ongoing review will focus on improving the system by targeting controls at those state and non-state actors who would seek to harm US, while ensuring that the traditional control lists keep pace with technological developments.

The review has followed the report by a panel headed by former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft, concluding that the US’s Cold War era export control system has constrained the country’s commercial and military capabilities from expanding into new fields. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->