Michael Krepon Quotations

Significantly improved ties are being forged without having to relax existing rules to prevent proliferation. So why has the administration proposed to weaken these rules?

New Delhi has adopted an enlightened approach to helping Pakistan during this tragedy, and a backward approach to accepting foreign humanitarian assistance on its side of the Kashmir divide.

I would guess he'd say something like 'You're heading toward an abyss and you need to do something about it,'

Well one thing I suspect Pakistanis would like to hear is that their textiles are welcome in the United States and that domestic constraints on foreign goods will be relaxed for a partner as Pakistan is a partner of the United States, that's one issue. I think Pakistanis would probably also like to hear that President Bush understands why there is so much anger in the Islamic world, anger about the cavalier and disrespectful approach in many Western capitals toward central tenants of the Islamic faith.

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 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.

After 300 years of colonial rule, India will not follow the beat of a distant drummer, nor accept a junior partnership to Washington,

This is an awkward moment, to say the least, for the Bush administration to set a high priority to relax these rules in favor of India.

This is a big deal for Pakistan. If an exception is to be made for India, it should be made for Pakistan, as well. That's Pakistan's position.

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?

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.

It's a sweetheart deal for India ... The administration told Congress the agreement would be about the growth of India's electricity and not the growth of Indian bomb making potential and that standard clearly has not been met.

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

If the prime minister of Pakistan does not test, he is viewed within the country as selling out national security for Uncle Sam and the International Monetary Fund. And if he does test, then the country's economic straits, which are very severe ... will grow worse.