The Indian government came under renewed pressure yesterday over a controversial nuclear deal with the US as lawmakers accused Washington of arm-twisting New Delhi to curb its atomic program.
Not only was Washington seeking to indirectly cap New Delhi's nuclear weapons program, it was also trying to impinge on India's right to pursue atomic research for peaceful purposes, they said.
The new criticism came in a debate in parliament amid rising concerns that US congressmen were moving the goalposts over the deal through amendments to legislation that needs to be approved before the deal is sealed.
A group of Indian scientists, the governing party's communist allies and the main Hindu nationalist opposition say that last month's agreement between India and the US for civilian nuclear cooperation was modified by US lawmakers with the insertion of new clauses last month.
Eight scientists in an open letter to lawmakers on Monday said the current deal "infringes on our independence for carrying out indigenous research and development in nuclear science ... Research and technology development are the sovereign rights of any nation."
"We have never been in any doubt over the deleterious impact of this deal," Yashwant Sinha, a lawmaker from India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, told the upper house of parliament.
"We believe it was meant to cap India's nuclear weapons program, our strategic program," said Sinha, a former foreign minister.
The parliament debate came weeks before the US Senate is expected to vote on the landmark deal after the House of Representatives gave overwhelming backing to it last month.
The deal also needs the joint approval of the two houses after negotiations on technical details of the pact and the backing of the Nuclear Suppliers Group of nations that regulates global atomic trade.
The civilian nuclear cooperation pact gives nuclear-armed India access to US atomic fuel and equipment, despite New Delhi not having signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to help meet its soaring energy needs.
In return, New Delhi has agreed to international inspections of its civilian nuclear reactors and the segregation of its civilian and military programs.
An American scientist convicted of lying to US authorities about payments from China while he was at Harvard University has rebuilt his research lab in Shenzhen, China, to pursue technology the Chinese government has identified as a national priority: embedding electronics into the human brain. Charles Lieber, 67, is among the world’s leading researchers in brain-computer interfaces. The technology has shown promise in treating conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and restoring movement in paralyzed people. It also has potential military applications: Scientists at the Chinese People’s Liberation Army have investigated brain interfaces as a way to engineer super soldiers by boosting
Indonesian police have arrested 13 people after shocking images of alleged abuse against small children at a daycare center went viral, sparking outrage across the nation, officials said on Monday. Police on Friday last week raided Little Aresha, a daycare center in Yogyakarta on Java island, following a report from a former employee. CCTV footage circulating on social media showed children, most younger than two, lying on the floor wearing only diapers, their hands and feet bound with rags. The police have confirmed that the footage is authentic. Police said they also found 20 children crammed into a room just 3m by 3m. “So
From post offices and parks to stations and even the summit of Mount Fuji, Japan’s vending machines are ubiquitous, but with the rapid pace of inflation cooling demand for their drinks, operators are being forced to rethink the business. Last month beverage giant DyDo Group Holdings announced it would remove about 20,000 vending machines — about 7 percent of their stock nationwide — by January next year, to “reconstruct a profitable network.” Pokka Sapporo Food & Beverage, based in Nagoya, also said last month it would sell its 40,000-machine operation to Osaka-based Lifedrink Co. “The strength of the vending machine
A highway bomb attack in a restive region of southwestern Colombia on Saturday killed 14 people and injured at least 38, the latest spate of violence ahead of next month’s presidential election. Authorities blamed the attack in the Cauca department — a conflict-ridden, coca-growing region — on dissidents of the now-disbanded FARC guerrilla army, who have been sowing violence across the country. “Those who carried out this attack ... are terrorists, fascists and drug traffickers,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on social media. “I want our very best soldiers to confront them,” he added. The leftist leader blamed the bombing
RSS