2006年VOA标准英语-US-India Nuclear Deal Viewed as Special Ca

By Teresa Sullivan
Washington
18 May 2006

The United States is looking to create a strong strategic partnership¹ with India as the South Asian country emerges as a world power. President Bush recently announced a controversial civilian² nuclear agreement with India that is being debated in Congress. A panel of experts recently discussed criticism the deal rewards India for refusing to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

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US President George W. Bush, left, and Indian PM Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, March 2, 2006  
  

President Bush announced the nuclear deal during a trip to India in early March.

The proposed agreement would allow India to import U.S. nuclear technology in exchange for opening its civilian nuclear facilities to international inspections³. India's nuclear-weapons program would remain secret.

State Department senior policy advisor⁴ Philip Zelikow says India is different from other non-aligned countries, and he counters the argument the U.S.-India deal would weaken the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"India really is a special case. It is an anomalous⁵ case in the history of nuclear weapons development, and we thought we needed to craft a special answer to the special case and we think that it is better for now to take that approach than to try to say we need to carve out a generic⁶ exception through which other countries we cannot currently foresee could walk through," said Zelikow.

India began openly developing nuclear weapons in the 1960s before the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was brought into force in 1970, and never signed the accord. New Delhi detonated its first nuclear device in a test in 1974. In 1998, the United States imposed sanctions against India and neighboring rival Pakistan after both countries carried out nuclear weapons tests.

But Zelikow recently told a conference at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington there is a difference between India and other countries, such as North Korea, which signed the non-proliferation treaty, then lied about developing atomic weapons.

"India was outside the regime, never lied about its intentions, and basically accepted the political responsibility and says, 'Yes, we are going to become a nuclear weapons state. We accept the political consequences of that decision,' and they had accepted it for a generation," he added. "So to the challenge that you have double standards, the answer is, 'Yes, we have double standards.' We do think that democracies that are reasonably honest about their intentions should be treated differently from dictatorships with hostile designs on their neighbors that lie and cheat."

The U.S.-India civilian nuclear agreement must be approved by the Indian Parliament and the U.S. Congress.

One thing U.S. lawmakers must do before the deal can go forward is change a law called the Atomic Energy Act that prohibits the United States from selling nuclear material or technology to countries that have not signed the non-proliferation treaty and refuse to open all of their nuclear facilities to international inspectors⁷. India and Pakistan are in that group.

The Bush administration is pressing lawmakers to amend⁸ the law by the end of June. Officials have warned failure to approve the nuclear deal will damage U.S.-India relations and could possibly hurt U.S. interests across the region.

But Henry Sokolski of the Non-Proliferation Policy Education Center is urging Congress to make sure safeguards by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which controls nuclear exports, are in place before voting to change the law.

"The idea that our countries are somehow are going to be cut asunder⁹ because of slowing this thing down and getting all these things tied up correctly strikes me as nutty," said Sokolski. "We need to slow down and get this right. We should be in no rush to get it wrong. There is, frankly¹⁰, too much at stake. This thing does constitute a non-proliferation headache if it is done incorrectly.

Congress is expected to approve the deal, even though it has yet to receive a complete draft of the accord.

Sokolski accuses the Bush administration of not wanting lawmakers to see the full deal before they vote on it.

"You have to have both houses vote by a majority that it is a good deal, and that means you have to actually see the deal. We don't have copies of the deal," he continued. "The negotiations¹¹ of those deals have begun, but they are not finished. When drafts of that deal were asked for by the Hill, essentially¹² Congress was told, 'Drop dead, we are going to use Executive Privilege to prevent you from seeing any of it.'"

Some critics say giving India a civilian nuclear deal that does not require New Delhi to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty could lead to increased nuclear tensions across Asia.

But Selig Harrison, who heads the Asia Program at the Center for International Policy, says the United States should forge strong ties with India to assure stability in the region.

"The alternative to such a partnership could be the emergence¹³ over time of, a free-wheeling India that could play an unpredictable role in Asia, the Middle East, and the Persian Gulf¹⁴ with uncertain consequences for U.S. security in the decades ahead" Harrison added. "A strong, stable India will advance the traditional U.S. objective of an Asian balance of power in which no one nation is able to exercise overwhelming dominance."

Congress has held several hearings on the U.S.-India nuclear agreement, and more are scheduled.

1 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

5 anomalous   

adj.反常的；不规则的

参考例句：

• For years this anomalous behaviour has baffled scientists.几年来这种反常行为让科学家们很困惑。
• The mechanism of this anomalous vascular response is unknown.此种不规则的血管反应的机制尚不清楚。

6 generic   

adj.一般的，普通的，共有的

参考例句：

• I usually buy generic clothes instead of name brands.我通常买普通的衣服，不买名牌。
• The generic woman appears to have an extraordinary faculty for swallowing the individual.一般妇女在婚后似乎有特别突出的抑制个性的能力。

7 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 amend   

vt.修改，修订，改进；n.[pl.]赔罪，赔偿

参考例句：

• The teacher advised him to amend his way of living.老师劝他改变生活方式。
• You must amend your pronunciation.你必须改正你的发音。

9 asunder   

adj.分离的，化为碎片

参考例句：

• The curtains had been drawn asunder.窗帘被拉向两边。
• Your conscience,conviction,integrity,and loyalties were torn asunder.你的良心、信念、正直和忠诚都被扯得粉碎了。

10 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

11 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

12 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

13 emergence   

n.浮现，显现，出现，（植物）突出体

参考例句：

• The last decade saw the emergence of a dynamic economy.最近10年见证了经济增长的姿态。
• Language emerges and develops with the emergence and development of society.语言是随着社会的产生而产生，随着社会的发展而发展的。

14 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。