Nuke deal not to lead to arms race: White House

      Washington: The White House has silenced the critics of Indo-US nuclear deal by rejecting the charges that the deal would lead to arms race in South-Asia and would set a bad example for Israel, Iran and North Korea. The White House released a statement yesterday aimed at quieting some of the more serious charges over the deal. While the US President George W Bush faces an uphill task to have the deal approved by US Congress, the statement provides a point- by-point the rebuttal to silence critics of the pact.

    The statement denied that the deal would accelerate the nuclear rivalry between India and Pakistan, saying Washington "has no intention of aiding" New Delhi's atomic weapons programme or of concluding a similar co-operation deal with Islamabad. A day after Bush met top lawmakers to discuss the agreement and seek their support, the statement said the deal does not set a bad precedent for countries like Iran, North Korea or Israel. The Indo-US nuclear deal would not fuel an arms race in the region, assist India's nuclear weapons programme or set the stage for its recognition as a nuclear weapons state, it added. "This is a historic agreement that brings India into the non- proliferation mainstream and addresses its growing energy needs through increased use of nuclear energy in co-operation with the international community" the statement said. "The United States has no intention of aiding India's nuclear weapons programme. India's plan to separate its civilian and military nuclear facilities and programmes will allow other nations to co-operate with India's civilian facilities to expand energy production," it said. It also dismissed any notion of a double standard that might embolden nuclear ambitions in Tehran or Pyongyang. "It is not credible to compare the rogue regimes of North Korea and Iran to India. Unlike Iran or N.Korea, India has been a peaceful and vibrant democracy with a strong nuclear non- proliferation record," the White House said. Iran and North Korea signed and ratified the NPT, but "broke the very non-proliferation commitments they claimed to follow" and both are "state sponsors of terrorism," it said.

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