Potential nuclear deal between the United States and Pakistan,Opium production in India

Potential nuclear deal between the United States and Pakistan

Pakistan’s track record in the area of nuclear non-proliferation is dubious. (China supplied Pak with critical nuclear weapon technologies. Pak in turn leaked some of them to North Korea. With the help of China and Pak, North Korea became a nuclear weapon state).
Inspite of Paks non-committal nature, US is ready to strike a nuclear deal.
India on the other hand has an impeccable non-proliferation track record.
This is the reason India got 123 Agreement in 2005 and subsequently got a NSG waiver in 2008.

The 123 Agreement signed between the United States of America and the India is known as the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation or Indo-US nuclear deal.
India agreed to separate its civil and military nuclear facilities and to place all its civil nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards and, in exchange, the United States agreed to work toward full civil nuclear cooperation with India.

India didn’t sign both Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as well as Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
Nuclear Suppliers Group doesn’t allow export of critical technologies and fissile material to countries like India which didn’t sign NPT and CTBT.
India with the help of USA and other countries like France, UK etc. secured NSG Waiver.
NSG waiver means that countries can export technologies and fissile material to India for civilian purposes only (nuclear power generation).
To obtain NSG waiver, India agreed to certain conditions like keeping civilian nuclear facilities separate from strategic nuclear facilities (nukes), placing all its civil nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards etc.

NSG is a cartel of countries that regulate the trade in fissile material and nuclear technologies.
NSG presently has 48 member. It includes major suppliers like USA, China, France, Russia etc.
China, whose consent is necessary for admitting new members to the NSG, has consistently supported Pakistan’s entry into the NSG.
China has previously opposed USA’s efforts at helping New Delhi to get the NSG membership.
Now with the help of China and USA, Pak wants to be a member of NSG club.

Pakistan has a terrible track record of nuclear proliferation and that a nuclear deal would be seen as rewarding such irresponsible behavior.
It would enable Pakistan to enhance its nuclear arsenal which, of course, is directed against India, making the latter more insecure (This will lead to nuclear arms race).

NSG membership will enable Pak to behave more responsibly which is good for India.
It is indeed better for the international community to be in the know of Pakistan’s nuclear programme, as far as possible, than having absolutely no clue about what it is doing with its nuclear material and technology.
Pakistan will have to change its offensive nuclear posture to be a part of NSG (“full spectrum deterrence” to “strategic deterrence”).
It would have to separate its civilian and military facilities, like India did to obtain NSG Waiver.
It may be asked to accept restrictions on its weapons programme, materially and doctrinally — such as giving up the policy of early use of nuclear weapons in a conventional conflict with India.
In short, the more the international control over Pakistan’s nuclear programme, the better it is for India.

India is the only country legally allowed to produce gum opium.
Government grants licenses to cultivators in specific regions for cultivation of opium poppy.
Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh are the only three states allowed to grow opium in the country.
India is one of the few countries that legally grow opium poppy and the only country which legally produces opium gum.
Opium poppy plant is the source of opium gum, which contains several indispensable alkaloids such as morphine (analgesic or used to relieve pain), codeine (analgesic drug derived from morphine) and thebaine (chemically similar to both morphine and codeine, but has stimulatory rather than depressant effects).
Morphine is the best analgesic in the world…Codeine is commonly used in the manufacture of cough syrups
Alkaloid: any of a class of nitrogenous organic compounds of plant origin which have pronounced physiological actions on humans.

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