An interesting diplomatic ‘nuclear’ drama is unfolding in South Asia. On the one hand we are witnessing the gathering momentum in the implementation of the historic India-U.S. nuclear deal, while on the other an infuriated President Parvez Musharraf is pressuring China to sell two civilian nuclear power reactors to Pakistan.
The Indian Express states: “On the eve of Musharraf’s visit to China today to attend the fifth anniversary summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, government sources in Pakistan have put out the word that he will seek an agreement on the sale of two Chinese nuclear power reactors of 300 MW each.
“While New Delhi understands the anxieties in Islamabad following the Indo-US nuclear deal last year, it will be certainly upset if Beijing seeks to complicate the American debate on nuclear cooperation with India by threatening a similar deal with Pakistan.
“China is already building two reactors of 300 MW each near Pakistan’s Chashma in West Punjab. While China had been extending military and civilian nuclear cooperation to Pakistan for decades, Beijing is no longer in a position to do so once it joined the Nuclear Suppliers Group a couple of years ago.
“Yet, Pakistani establishment has not given up its hopes for expanding nuclear cooperation with China.”l
On why India and the US are cosying up, there is an interesting article in The Time magazine.
Another article that merits attention on this subject is ‘Chinese Reaction to Indo-US Relations’ written by Indian defense expert K. Subrahmanyam. “China-India relationship has improved dramatically culminating in the recent Defence Cooperation agreement signed during the visit of Indian Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherji to Beijing.
“India-China trade is growing fast with the likelihood of China becoming India’s first trade partner. India and China are together in Asean Regional Forum. East Asia summit, clean energy initiative and International Thermonuclear Energy Research project (ITER). Both countries are invitees to G-8 summit and India is an observer in the Shanghai Cooperation organization.
“Today China is aware that India’s civil energy requirements are a matter of international concern as China’s own energy needs are. The accelerating growth of energy demands of these two Asian giants if not met by clean energy supplies will aggravate the problem of green house gas emissions and problem of climate change.
“The Chinese leadership is sensitive to it and therefore has opted for large scale import of nuclear reactors from Russia, France, Canada, Japan, Germany and US. Today China, the erstwhile developing country, is the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases (18%) next to US (25%).”
And, finally, do not forget to read VOA’s Stephanie Ho’s report from Washington that “U.S. officials, lawmakers and experts on nuclear proliferation are pushing for more answers in the case of a global nuclear black market, run by AQ Khan, who used to head Pakistan’s secret nuclear program. Their calls come several weeks after Islamabad announced that its investigation into the AQ Khan network is finished…
“The man widely regarded as the father of Pakistan’s nuclear program, AQ Khan, also ran a clandestine global network that sold nuclear material and technology to Iran, Libya, North Korea, and possibly others.”
But speaking recently in Washington, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Nuclear Non Proliferation, Andrew Semmel, said Washington still considers the issue open and ongoing.
Abdul Qadeer Khan is a Fellow of Kazakh National Academy of Sciences, the first Asian scientist with this honour, elected Fellow of the Islamic Academy of Sciences and Honorary Member of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology, says a Pakistani website. He was elected unopposed to the post of President of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences in 1997-a position that he still occupies.
Khan is a member of many national and international professional organizations including the Pakistan Institute of Metallurgical Engineers; Pakistan Institute of Engineers; and Institute of Central and West Asian Studies.He is a Member of the Institute of Materials, London; American Society of Metals (ASM); Canadian Institute of Metals (CIM) and Japan Institute of Metals (JIM).
A Q Khan sits on the Boards of Governors of numerous universities and institutes. He is a Member of the Executive Committee, GIK Institute of Engineering and Technology; Member, Board of Governors, Hamdard University; Member, Board of Governors, Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology; Member Syndicate, Quaidi-I-Azam university, Islamabad ; and Member, Board of Governors, International Islamic University, Islamabad.
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.