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German Debate Under Way on U.S.-India Nuclear Deal By David Ruppe WASHINGTON — The German government in the coming weeks could be forced to declare and justify its position on the tentative U.S. agreement to export nuclear technology to Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty holdout India, following the introduction of a minority party resolution opposing the deal (see GSN, March 17). The Green Party introduced the resolution in the German parliament on March 7, prompting a short debate on March 10 that found most of the country’s major parties opposed to the deal and the government’s lead Christian Democratic Union party undecided. The German government has been mum so far on the matter, but a debate reportedly is occurring within the Foreign Ministry, which is headed by a member of the coalition Social Democratic Party, whose arms control representative spoke in opposition during the debate. The government is under pressure to make a decision before Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh visits in April. “I presume that the German government already will want to have a position on this deal,” said Oliver Meier, international representative for the Arms Control Association in Berlin. Analysts have not considered Germany among those countries that might oppose the deal in May by rejecting an expected U.S. proposal to exempt India from Nuclear Suppliers Group requirements. The 45-member consensus-run organization requires that non-NPT nations have in place full-scope safeguards — meaning all nuclear facilities safeguarded from weapons production — in order to receive certain nuclear exports from groups members. India has nuclear weapons and limited safeguards in place. Analysts say the deal could aid New Delhi’s weapons program, by facilitating uranium exports into the country for civil energy, potentially freeing up other supplies to manufacture more weapons. The U.S. Congress must also approve the deal for it to go through. That is by no means guaranteed to occur, as both parties are showing signs of support and opposition (see related GSN story, today). The March 10 debate indicated the German government would have to declare and defend the position it chooses at parliamentary hearings in the coming weeks, according to Meier. He said there has been little debate in the German press or so far public interest in the potential deal, but that an explanation of the government’s position could spark interest in the largely antinuclear population. “At least it should foster a more informed debate in parliament,” he said. The German government has a policy of phasing out civil nuclear energy production, a rarity worldwide. The Green Party resolution recommends preconditions for the deal that are certain to be rejected by India. They are: that all Indian nuclear facilities be placed indefinitely under international safeguards, a permanent cap on Indian fissile material production for weapons, India’s accession to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and New Delhi’s end to further nuclear weapons production and its commitment to the NPT requirement to negotiate an end to the nuclear arms race. “Giving consent to a lifting of international nuclear trade restrictions against India can only be in the German or the European interest if India in return makes verifiable, far-reaching and irreversible commitments on nuclear transparency and on disarmament and in a binding manner subjects itself to global nuclear disarmament rules and arms control restrictions,” it says. At the debate, representatives from the Green and the Liberal parties spoke against the deal, as did one from Germany’s other large party and the Christian Democratic Union’s government coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party. “A principle of the NPT is being called into question, a principle which states that we reward states that renounce nuclear weapons with support. ... This principle was important to bring states into the NPT. Now this principle has been unilaterally … obstructed,” said Social Democrat arms control spokesman Rolf Mutzenich. A debate is believed to be under way within the German Foreign Ministry on whether to support the deal, similar to one that took place at the U.S. State Department (see GSN, March 8). “The struggle is clearly within the Foreign Ministry at this point,” Meier said. Karl-Theodor Freiherr zu Guttenberg, the Christian Democratic Union’s arms control spokesman in parliament, in the debate acknowledged the Green Party’s criticisms but also said that the deal might bring India closer to NPT compliance. It is a “matter of judgment,” he said, whether the “agreement despite all negative implications, at least brings India closer to the nonproliferation treaty.” At the same time, he appeared to lament that Europe had not negotiated such a deal for itself before the United States. “Where … is Europe? Where was the European Union? Where is a European foreign policy that also changes strategic orientations and circumstances in the world?” he said.
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