OBAMA COMPROMISING ON NUCLEAR SAFETY
Much was made out of Barack Obama’s visit to Hiroshima, the first by a serving United States President after the 1945 bombing, which may be called the first major terror attack in the world. Inspite of a civilised face that the US may put up today, it is a fact that it has been responsible for producing and using one of the most deadliest weapons in this world and its economy thrives on wars and weapons.
In 2009 Barack Obama had called for a world free of nuclear weapons. It was a welcome change from his predecessors none of whom had articulated this vision. The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia was also a step in the right direction. But the announcement of an ambitious plan to spend $1 trillion on modernisation of nuclear arsenal over the next three decades was a give away as it exposed the real US military intentions. It is no surprise that now the US President doesn’t talk about ‘a nuclear weapons free world.’ This also explains why he did not apologize for the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during his recent visit to Japan.
Barack Obama said that he would not revisit the 1945 decision of President Harry Truman to drop the bombs on Japan which killed over 3 lakh people as an excuse for not apologizing. However, nobody is holding Obama responsible for the decision of Truman and he must remember that he is no ordinary US President. Obama was given a Nobel Prize right at the beginning of his Presidency because it was expected that he’ll take major steps in the direction of demilitarisation. The Americans and the global population was fed up with the aggressive policies of George Bush before him. But Obama has belied hopes and in the final analysis would be considered only a little less aggressive than his predecessors, which the world anyway expects from a Democratic Party President compared to a Republican Party one.
Barack Obama will go down in history as a President who took number of progressive initiatives. He had a historic opportunity to make this world a safer place to live in for the future generations. He did not use it. The least that was expected of him was that he would apologize for the inhuman act of nuclear bombing by US, the only country to have used these weapons in a war so far in history. The result was so devastating that no country has had the moral courage to use it again. This also justifies its elimination. But the simple logic doesn’t seem to dictate policies of most powerful countries of the world. Today at least nine countries possess the technology to produce and use the bomb. The world is definitely a more dangerous place than it was in 1945.
If by apologizing Obama could not have set the ball rolling in the direction of nuclear disarmament his apology could have pointed out the futility of such weapons and why it was morally unjustifiable to use it. Compulsions of real geopolitics have prevented him from doing it.
Now he is actively promoting the idea of membership for India to the Nuclear Suppliers Group. NSG is a group of 48 countries which are signatories to Non-Proliferation Treaty and engage in trade in nuclear technology only with countries which have signed NPT. India is a non-signatory to NPT and that is why countries like China oppose its entry to this elite group.
However, due to persistent efforts of Dr. Manmohan Singh, in 2008 the NSG gave waiver to India from its existing rules which prevented trade with non-NPT countries.
Interestingly, NSG was formed in response to India’s nuclear test in 1974 when it was realised that some nuclear technology transferred to India by western countries was used to produce nuclear weapons. NSG was formed to limit this kind of proliferation. It was agreed by the group that nuclear technology could be exported to non-nuclear states conditional to agreement to International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.
India got the NSG waiver in 2008 on the condition that it would not share sensitive nuclear technology and material with other countries and would uphold voluntary moratorium on nuclear weapons testing. Before obtaining NSG waiver India had to enter into an agreement with IAEA to open 14 out of its 21 nuclear power reactors for inspection. Compare this with the power of voluntary inspections by IAEA which the five formal nuclear weapons states – US, Britain, France, Russia and China – enjoy.
Narendra Modi thinks he has achieved some kind of victory by winning over the support of US, Switzerland and Mexico for India’s membership to NSG. But it is quite clear that this US led initiative is essentially to promote nuclear power plants in India for which a number of US companies, who have gone out of business after almost the entire developed world has stopped commissioning new power plants, are vying.
Second reason why Obama is keen on having India on its side is that the US wants to use India as a military base in exchange for providing sophisticated weapons and military training, at an exorbitant cost. US it blatantly trying to promote its interests in this new found friendship with India, full implications of which have not sunk in the mind of Narendra Modi.
However Obama’s initiatives are likely to make South Asia a more risky nuclear flash point as Pakistan is making parallel efforts with China’s support to build its stockpile.
In the ultimate analysis Obama is going to leave this world a more dangerous place than he inherited when he took over US presidency. This was not expected from a Nobel Peace Prize winner.
By Sandeep Pandey
Vice President, Socialist Party (India)
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