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Arms Control Association Press Briefing on the U.S.-India Nuclear Cooperation Deal

Posted on: Wednesday, 8 February 2006, 18:00 CST

News Advisory:

WHAT:

Arms Control Association press briefing on "The U.S.-India Nuclear Cooperation Deal: A Critical Assessment"

WHEN:

Wednesday, February 15, 2006, from 9:30 to 11 a.m.

WHERE:

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace,

1779 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, D.C.,

Root Room (Second Floor)

Contact Will Huntington at 202-463-8270 ext. 103 or Wade Boese at 463-8270 ext. 104 to RSVP or for more information.

President George W. Bush is scheduled to visit India during the first week of March to try to advance his controversial proposal for U.S.-India nuclear cooperation. Since the proposal was announced last July, U.S. and Indian officials have sought to work out the details of the arrangement, but they continue to disagree over how to "separate" India's civilian and military nuclear facilities.

The deal calls for broad civilian nuclear cooperation for the first time since India's 1974 nuclear test explosion, which demonstrated that New Delhi was willing to use civilian nuclear technology assistance to build nuclear weapons and was determined not to join the 1968 nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). Following U.S.-Indian agreement on the separation plan, the White House has said it will seek congressional approval for exceptions to longstanding U.S. law that bars civilian nuclear cooperation with states, such as India, that do not have comprehensive international nuclear safeguards.

This briefing will assess whether India's commitments under the current terms of the proposed arrangement justify making far- reaching exceptions to U.S. law and international nonproliferation norms. Further, it will examine the implications of the civil- military separation exercise for India's nuclear weapons program. In addition, a detailed rebuttal to a recent set of Department of State responses to questions about the proposal from members of Congress will be made available.

Panelists:

David Albright, President of the Institute for Science and International Security. He will analyze the technical implications of reported options for the separation of India's civilian and military nuclear facilities and address India's export control performance.

Len Weiss, former Staff Director of the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs and a key architect of the 1978 Nuclear Nonproliferation Act. He will review the positive and negative effects of the proposed nuclear cooperation proposal on U.S. and global efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons.

Daryl G. Kimball, Executive Director of the Arms Control Association. He will discuss the value of a cut-off of fissile material production for weapons by India in the context of the proposal for U.S.-India nuclear cooperation.

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The Arms Control Association is an independent, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to promoting public understanding of and support for effective arms control policies.

http://www.usnewswire.com

Source: U.S. Newswire

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