Click it and Unblock the Notifications
US defends India's non-proliferation record
When the issue was raised at a briefing here yesterday, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack emphasised that the US penalties were levied against two private Indian companies and not against the Indian government, or India, which the United States considers is very responsible in anti-proliferation efforts despite the sanctions.
The two companies were cited for violating a US law -- Iran Non-Proliferation Act of 2000, aimed at barring sales of sensitive dual-use technology that could help Iran develop weapons of mass destruction.
The State Department announced on Friday that two Indian chemical producers were among seven companies, including two each from India and Russia, were sanctioned for violating the Iran Non-proliferation Act, an American law enacted six years ago aimed at curbing Iran's ability to acquire weapons of mass destruction.
The officials said that one of the Indian companies, Balaji Amines Limited, was cited for selling Iran precursor chemicals for rocket fuel, while the other, Prachi Poly Products Limited, is said to have sold Iran precursor chemicals that could be used for chemical weapons.
The sanctions will bar the two Indian chemical companies from having any business dealings with the US government, or from buying certain US high-tech products, for two years.
However, critics in the Congress of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, like Congressman Edward Markey (Democrat from Massachusetts), had accused the Bush administration of withholding the sanctions announcement till the crucial vote on the deal was over in the House of Representatives. Markey and others tried to make the sanctions announcement as evidence that India's non-proliferation record was not that ideal as presented by the administration officials to get the deal off the floor of the House.
McCormack clarified that the said sanctions against private firms operating in a given country do not necessarily reflect badly on a government's non-proliferation record, which he said in the case of India is good. Replying to a specific question on the issue, McCormack said, ''Look at the announcement. As I understand it, there are 33 companies that are currently sanctioned under the Iran Non-proliferation Act. They're from a variety of different countries. But we believe the Indian government itself is a responsible actor, a very responsible actor, on the front of non-proliferation''.
McCormack said he was also unaware of anything to support a charge by Rep Markey that the administration deliberately held up the sanctions announcement until after a key congressional vote on the nuclear deal late last month.
The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favour of the accord on July 26th. It has to be cleared by the Senate sometime next month.
McCormack also noted that a Senate vote and other congressional hurdles remain, and said the timing of Friday's sanctions move will prove over time to have been irrelevant.
Under the accord, India would get access to sensitive US technology and equipment for its energy needs although it had not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) lifting a thirty year ban.
Opponents of the deal contended that making an exception to India, would create double standards at a time when the United States was trying to force Iran, an NPT signatory, to give up enrichment of uranium and other nuclear activities.
But McCormack said, ''We believe that the Indian Government is has a very strong record overall on the nonproliferation front and that the deal negotiated between the United States and India on nuclear issues is a good one for the US, is a good one for the international community on the non-proliferation front''.
