'Bush Responsible For Weakening Nuclear Rules'

19 Oct 2008, 0615 hrs IST, PTI
Courtessy Of The TimesOfIndia

WASHINGTON: Democratic Congressman Edward Markey, who opposed the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, held President Bush responsible for weakening of the
nuclear rules and ruining the vital arms control policy.

"By destroying the nuclear rules for India, President Bush has weakened the rules for everyone else. Pakistan and China will be the first, but almost certainly not the last, to take advantage of this weakened system," Markey said in a statement while reacting over the reports of Pakistan to build nuclear reactors with China's help.

The Democrat Congressman said that the Bush administration told the world that the US-India nuclear deal was unique, "but just as many experts warned all along, Pakistan and China clearly have a different idea."

He termed the President Bush's decision to push the deal, in the waning days of his administration as "unwise" and "undoing decades of vital arms control policy."

"Today's announcement of new nuclear reactors in Pakistan to be built with China's help will ensure that this failed administration will indeed leave behind a distinct legacy, though not the kind that arms control experts and historians will judge favourably," the Massachusetts Democrat said in the statement.

Markey, a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the founder and co-chair of the House Bipartisan Task Force on Non-proliferation, during his opposition to the Indo-US had said "it (the deal) would not only lead to an arms race in South Asia but also push Pakistan to pursue a similar deal with China and which Beijing was most likely to assist."