Michael Krepon Nuclear Quotations

A country-specific exemption that relaxes consensus-based rules of nuclear commerce is the wrong way to bring India inside the tent. Country-specific exemptions for friends do real damage to the standards we seek to impose on troublemakers.

The signal is that we want to change the rules of the game. Other nuclear suppliers will be very free to reinterpret the rules as they like in subsequent cases.

To me, this is the most egregious aspect of the deal. We would be obliged to help India find fuel elsewhere after it tests nuclear weapons, after imposing sanctions due to our public law.

The agreement is not only about electricity. It's about India's military nuclear program.

This is a very serious competition. If present trends continue, India and Pakistan could very well have greater nuclear capabilities than France and Great Britain, looking down the road.

At a time when Washington is pushing hard to toughen requirements for nuclear commerce to states that have pledged not to acquire nuclear weapons or appear to be seeking them, does it make sense to relax requirements on states that have nuclear weapons?