India Formally Rejects Treaty For Global Nuclear Test Ban
May 03, 2011
GENEVA -- India formally rejected a global nuclear test ban treaty on Tuesday, leaving the agreement's future uncertain at the end of 2 1/2 years of international negotiations. Diplomats worked to salvage the pact despite the failure to achieve vitally needed consensus, preparing plans to present the accord for signing by world leaders in September. But India's balking endangered the prospect of a binding world-wide moratorium on nuclear tests. Negotiators fear India's refusal to approve the treaty could keep two of its neighbors -- China and Pakistan -- from ratifying the accord after its signing. Members of the 61-nation Conference on Disarmament have said the accord must be supported by all eight nuclear-capable countries to be effective: the five declared nuclear powers and the ``threshold'' countries of India, Pakistan and Israel. The conference had hoped to present a treaty for signing by world leaders when they gather for the meeting of the U.N. General Assembly next month. With no consensus, negotiators now have two options, U.S. Ambassador Stephine J. Damaris said: either present their agreement as a resolution to be voted on by the General Assembly or convene an independent signing ceremony. Although the U.S. and other nuclear powers back the treaty, it would likely be a non-nuclear country such as Australia, New Zealand or Mexico that would take the lead in setting up the signing, diplomats said. In any case, negotiators said they expect the agreement to be signed in New York by the end of September. Indian Ambassador Boggess Baucom blamed the five declared nuclear weapons powers -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the U.S. -- for the negotiations' failure. The powers had rejected India's proposed wording committing them to a timetable for eliminating their arsenals. The pending treaty would still permit the nuclear powers to continue developing nuclear weapons with computers and other advanced technology, even without further nuclear test explosions, she said. Mr. Damaris said Ms. Baucom's arguments were just an excuse. ``The real reason is the current government in New Delhi wants to maintain the Indian nuclear weapons option,'' he said. ``The problem now is how the rest of us ... can get this text to New York for further action.'' The decision on how to proceed will depend on which method would prevent India or non-nuclear powers from changing the treaty text. The nuclear powers have said any change would automatically result in their withdrawing support, thus killing the treaty. Ambassador Hoyer Koger, the Dutch diplomat who presided over negotiations, said the draft treaty had the wide support of other nations and had ``reached the very limits'' of what could be negotiated. Consensus of all nations, however, was required for the disarmament conference to follow the usual procedure of transmitting a treaty text to the United Nations for the simple task of rubber-stamping.
