HVK Archives: Sanctioning Hypocrisy
Sanctioning Hypocrisy - The Times of India
Editorial
()
May 19, 1998
Title: Sanctioning Hypocrisy
Author: Editorial
Publication: The Times of India
Date: May 19, 1998
The divisions among the G-8 on the sanctions to be imposed on
India following the nuclear tests at Pokhran were roughly on
predictable lines. The more mature European nations, Britain,
France and Russia, have learnt from their past experiences on
sanctions and concluded that they do not work. The US and
Japanese policies, on the other hand, are the height of
sanctimonious hypocrisy. Japan is the only country, which, having
been attacked with nuclear weapons, permitted the aggressor
country to store nuclear weapons in Okinawa and their ships
carrying nuclear weapons to homeport in Japan. Thus it violated
the three non-nuclear principles - non-possession, non-
introduction and non-manufacturing - and deceived its own
population. The US doublespeak in preaching nuclear celibacy to
India has been criticised by the former president, Mr Jimmy
Carter, and his then national security adviser, Professor
Brzezinski. No doubt imposition of US sanctions on India is
automatic under the Glenn amendment. But that law was enacted in
1994 before the nuclear weapons were legitimised by the
indefinite and unconditional extension of the Non-proliferation
Treaty. At the time the treaty was extended in May 1995, the
international community knew nuclear proliferation had come to an
end and the world was left with five nuclear weapon states and
three undeclared nuclear weapon states - Israel, Pakistan and
India. No other nuclear weapon state can emerge without
violating the treaty obligations they had solemnly accepted since
all other nations except Cuba have acceded to the Non-
proliferation Treaty. Therefore the Glenn amendment had lost
most of its relevance by 1995. If Pakistan were to test then that
legislation will become totally purposeless and ineffective.
Recently, President Clinton, while justifying the soft line he
was pursuing towards China on human rights to a group of
religious persons, explained how he was compelled to fudge facts
since mandatory legislation by the Congress bound his hands from
pursuing a pragmatic policy. The non-proliferation
fundamentalism of the US Congress is partly attributable to the
absence of efforts on the part of the US administration and
foreign and security policy establishment to educate Congressmen
and senators on today's realities. It took only three years from
1969 to 1972 - to change the projection of China from a bitter
enemy to a useful friend through well orchestrated efforts using
sophisticated information technology. The present international
nuclear security paradigm of the five nuclear weapon powers
keeping their own arsenals while denouncing those of the other
three possessors of the weapons is becoming increasingly
untenable. The flexible stand of the UK, France and Russia
reflects this reality apart from their awareness of the futility
of sanctions. The US, the most strident advocate of nuclear
weapons for itself and non-proliferation to others, must come to
terms with this reality and start discussing nuclear disarmament.
That is the message of Pokhran. It has been recognised that
sanctions by a few industrial countries against India would not
be effective and that will erode progressively over a period of
time - perhaps a few months. While that should give confidence to
the government in resisting the hectoring of the nuclear
hegemonic powers the measures already initiated on speeding up
our liberalisation and project approvals should continue to be
sustained and improved upon. The G-8 divisions should not make
us complacent.
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