Nuke –To Deal Out Or Deal With It?
EmPower Research
October 12, 2007
By Sangeeta Ghosh Dastidar
Are you a worried citizen of India but mature enough to take an avid interest in the foreign policy implications of India? If so, ‘India’ beckons all in this ‘sovereign world’, and whether India signs the much touted and hacked to death “Nuke Deal” is well, worth the watch!
In recent times, the pendulum has swung back and forth in the Indian political hot seats and continues to infuriate the “man on the street”. Media moguls continue to vend their spin wares through headlines and close captions, bombarding daily newsprints with dialogues on the Hyde Act, the fall outs of the ‘123 Agreement’ and the fallacies of India’s geopolitical base. In the midst of all this, is there anything at all for the farmer or the daily wager or the 80 percent of those Indians who still brave a six mile walk for one bucket load of clean drinking water or squirm for a few megawatts of energy fuel!
Boon or a bane
The ‘know it all’ intelligentsia, the so-called advocates of the deal; do lead and believe that the agreement will add to the already depleted natural fuel resources. But, the question rampant is how much of this energy created, if at all is likely to sustain long term requirements of the remotest villages in India and, for how long? With the vast majority of the populace striving to battle its needs for basic amenities, the social stratum has been much divided on the “Nuke” response. And to the not so “Nuke Savvy” and victims of casual conversations on the Nuke deal, safety and security is yet another misnomer which further adds to the mental upheavals.
Deliberations are rife with “ifs” and “buts” and the need of the hour is to dwell into the changes. The US briefing of its 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) on the civil nuclear deal aims to change its NSG guidelines, allowing nuclear trade with India. NSG is a 45-nation club that works by consensus. Washington will then need to go to the NSG, which is supposed to discourage nuclear trade with countries outside full safeguards and ask for special flexibility for India. The step is expected to egg on India to work out a safeguards agreement with the IAEA to secure changes in NSG laws in order to concretize the deal.
Eyeing the Indian market
Will It or won’t it”, is a matter of deep deliberations despite senior American officials saying that "the US wants to meet the entire pre-requisites of the operationalisation of the deal by the end of this year."
While the deal does open up international nuclear markets to India allowing the country to expand its nuclear power program, American critics view that by providing fuel to India, the U.S. would free up India's limited domestic supplies of nuclear material for use in atomic weapons. In the long run, this move is likely to spark a nuclear arms race in Asia. The deal reverses three decades of American anti-proliferation policy by allowing the United States to send nuclear fuel and technology to India, a country which has refused to sign any kind of international nonproliferation treaty and tested nuclear weapons.
Adding fuel to this thought are Indian opponents who say that the pact would undermine their country's nuclear weapons program and allow the United States to dictate Indian foreign policy.
ElBaradei’s India sojourn
The current visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), director general Mohammed ElBaradei to India intensifies the deal dialogue. Mr ElBaradei’s comment that “India was a valuable partner for the UN nuclear watchdog and that they will continue to promote the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, ” surely ruffles up a few feathers in the Indian political domain.
While India’s Left parties continue with their demands against going ahead with the India-US civil nuclear deal, Mohamed ElBaradei, chief of the UN nuclear watchdog, said that he will wait for a formal request from the Indian government to the IAEA before negotiations can begin on a safeguards agreement.
Amid the controversy over the Indo-US nuke deal, the communists have made it clear that they do not want these discussions to take place at all. The political guesswork prompts a confrontation which is likely to lead to early elections. Whether the nuclear deal beckons a strategic shift between India and the United States is yet to be seen.
India at crossroads
A new caveat introduced in the US House of Representatives asks the administration not to seek an NSG exemption for India until it has addressed Congressional concerns over compliance with the enabling Hyde Act. New Delhi now needs to sign an India specific additional protocol with IAEA to bring its civil nuclear reactors under international safeguards. The requirement is also to persuade NSG to exempt India from nuclear trade rules before the nuclear deal comes up before the United States congress for final approval.
As the depth of the deliberations deepens, the bystander might well ask - whether India should weather its pro-imperialist stand or seek newer pathways to refuel its depleting energy, muster courage or risk a face off with China which belongs to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)?
If this nuclear rigmarole attempts to reverse fortunes for the 77 percent of the poor and vulnerable Indians, the deal ‘To Be Or Not To Be’ is atleast well worth a try!
Are you a worried citizen of India but mature enough to take an avid interest in the foreign policy implications of India? If so, ‘India’ beckons all in this ‘sovereign world’, and whether India signs the much touted and hacked to death “Nuke Deal” is well, worth the watch!
In recent times, the pendulum has swung back and forth in the Indian political hot seats and continues to infuriate the “man on the street”. Media moguls continue to vend their spin wares through headlines and close captions, bombarding daily newsprints with dialogues on the Hyde Act, the fall outs of the ‘123 Agreement’ and the fallacies of India’s geopolitical base. In the midst of all this, is there anything at all for the farmer or the daily wager or the 80 percent of those Indians who still brave a six mile walk for one bucket load of clean drinking water or squirm for a few megawatts of energy fuel!
Boon or a bane
The ‘know it all’ intelligentsia, the so-called advocates of the deal; do lead and believe that the agreement will add to the already depleted natural fuel resources. But, the question rampant is how much of this energy created, if at all is likely to sustain long term requirements of the remotest villages in India and, for how long? With the vast majority of the populace striving to battle its needs for basic amenities, the social stratum has been much divided on the “Nuke” response. And to the not so “Nuke Savvy” and victims of casual conversations on the Nuke deal, safety and security is yet another misnomer which further adds to the mental upheavals.
Deliberations are rife with “ifs” and “buts” and the need of the hour is to dwell into the changes. The US briefing of its 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) on the civil nuclear deal aims to change its NSG guidelines, allowing nuclear trade with India. NSG is a 45-nation club that works by consensus. Washington will then need to go to the NSG, which is supposed to discourage nuclear trade with countries outside full safeguards and ask for special flexibility for India. The step is expected to egg on India to work out a safeguards agreement with the IAEA to secure changes in NSG laws in order to concretize the deal.
Eyeing the Indian market
Will It or won’t it”, is a matter of deep deliberations despite senior American officials saying that "the US wants to meet the entire pre-requisites of the operationalisation of the deal by the end of this year."
While the deal does open up international nuclear markets to India allowing the country to expand its nuclear power program, American critics view that by providing fuel to India, the U.S. would free up India's limited domestic supplies of nuclear material for use in atomic weapons. In the long run, this move is likely to spark a nuclear arms race in Asia. The deal reverses three decades of American anti-proliferation policy by allowing the United States to send nuclear fuel and technology to India, a country which has refused to sign any kind of international nonproliferation treaty and tested nuclear weapons.
Adding fuel to this thought are Indian opponents who say that the pact would undermine their country's nuclear weapons program and allow the United States to dictate Indian foreign policy.
ElBaradei’s India sojourn
The current visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), director general Mohammed ElBaradei to India intensifies the deal dialogue. Mr ElBaradei’s comment that “India was a valuable partner for the UN nuclear watchdog and that they will continue to promote the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, ” surely ruffles up a few feathers in the Indian political domain.
While India’s Left parties continue with their demands against going ahead with the India-US civil nuclear deal, Mohamed ElBaradei, chief of the UN nuclear watchdog, said that he will wait for a formal request from the Indian government to the IAEA before negotiations can begin on a safeguards agreement.
Amid the controversy over the Indo-US nuke deal, the communists have made it clear that they do not want these discussions to take place at all. The political guesswork prompts a confrontation which is likely to lead to early elections. Whether the nuclear deal beckons a strategic shift between India and the United States is yet to be seen.
India at crossroads
A new caveat introduced in the US House of Representatives asks the administration not to seek an NSG exemption for India until it has addressed Congressional concerns over compliance with the enabling Hyde Act. New Delhi now needs to sign an India specific additional protocol with IAEA to bring its civil nuclear reactors under international safeguards. The requirement is also to persuade NSG to exempt India from nuclear trade rules before the nuclear deal comes up before the United States congress for final approval.
As the depth of the deliberations deepens, the bystander might well ask - whether India should weather its pro-imperialist stand or seek newer pathways to refuel its depleting energy, muster courage or risk a face off with China which belongs to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)?
If this nuclear rigmarole attempts to reverse fortunes for the 77 percent of the poor and vulnerable Indians, the deal ‘To Be Or Not To Be’ is atleast well worth a try!
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