Brazil cancels nuclear cooperation accord with India

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, May 18 Kyodo - The Brazilian government canceled Monday a joint nuclear cooperation accord with India in protest against New Delhi's underground nuclear testing last week, Brazil's Foreign Ministry said. ''We have canceled the agreement for cooperation in the nuclear area to protest against the tests,'' said General Secretary Sebastiao do Rego Barros. Brazil criticized India after it staged five underground nuclear blasts, but, the Foreign Ministry said Brazil still considers India an important partner. The ministry said in an official communique that the nuclear tests ''harm the international effort to curb nuclear proliferation and pose a perilous threat to international peace and security.'' The nuclear cooperation accord covered the use of radioactive mineral thorium, of which Brazil holds the world's largest reserves, as fuel and was signed during the visit of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso to India in January 1996. The accord promoted cooperation on the use of nuclear power in medicine, agriculture, food irradiation and other areas, and respected Brazil's National Constitution, which bans the use of nuclear energy for military purposes. Cardoso said then the agreement had been concluded for scientific purposes and expressed his opposition to any nuclear device.