Does India have The Right to Test a Nuclear Weapon?
By Arun Kumar Washington The United States claims that the proposed bilateral accord to implement the landmark civil nuclear deal with India provides for its termination in the event of New Delhi conducting a weapons test. India asserts otherwise. Who is right? The truth as always lies in between. The implementing draft 123 agreement finalized here last month is in fact a delicate balancing act taking care of the concerns of either side – India’s right to conduct a test and US laws on non-proliferation. Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured India’s parliament that “the agreement does not in any way affect India’s right to undertake future nuclear tests, if it is necessary,” state department spokesman Sean McCormack Tuesday added fuel to the fire in New Delhi over the controversial deal by suggesting that such an event would lead to scrapping of the deal. “The proposed 123 Agreement has provisions in it that in an event of a nuclear test by India, then all nuclear cooperation is
