The long awaited and negotiated Nuclear Agreement, dubbed 123 Agreement from the no. of section in the relevant US law, is finally now in place. It has been one of the most criticized deal in India, while in America it is sure to be find a place in the most debated of the agreements. The congress is yet to approve the final draft of the agreement but it is only a matter of the time for that to happen.
The time factor is the crucial issue in the affair between Indo-US deal. While the United Progressive Alliance government in India want to showcase this deal as the one significant foreign policy achievement before it goes to public for a renewed mandate next year, the George W. Bush administration in US also wants it to be finalised before the 2008 presidential election. The UPA government in lead by the Congress party that was in abyss for the eight years before it came to power. The erstwhile BJP led National Democratic Alliance government pursued some aggressive foreign policy, of which the Nuclear tests were a major part and cemented friendlier ties with US, both in Bill Clinton and George Bush regime. UPA needs something to counter that success and this deal provides the best chance for it to do so. Bush administration’s predicament in Iraq as well as its almost failure in the war against terrorism is evident to everybody now. The need for the administration to illustrate one aspect where it has reaped some gains assumed significance now. That explains why both sides want to ink the deal as soon as possible.
The speed with which both sides moved has been amply demonstrated in the statement by the Assistant Secretary of State Nicolas Burns, who was a key figure in the negotiations that led up to the finalization of the agreement. As Mr. Burns informed the mêlée, the negotiations lasted for about two years and two day. But, “First of all, we were very careful when we began these -- the latest phase of these negotiations to remind the Indian Government that since the President and Prime Minister had their two agreements of July '05 and March '06, something else had happened: The Congress had debated over six, seven months those agreements and the Congress has passed the Hyde Act. …. First, in late May, early June, the Indians came to us and said that they were ready to build a new state-of-the-art reprocessing facility that would be under IAEA safeguards and that any reprocessing of spent fuel would be done in conjunction with that new facility, fully safeguarded, fully transparent to the IAEA and to the United States and to the international community. That was a significant development in the negotiations.” It was clear from the above statement that the matter was settled in just two months when the Indian government agreed to set up a reprocessing facility which will go through the inspection of IATA.
Even as the nod from the Congress is awaited for this agreement, Mr. Burns has sent cat among pigeons by announcing that the right of return from this agreement remains, as imbibed in US laws with the reigning presidents. That effectively nullifies Indian diplomat’s claims that India’s national interests are well preserved in this deal. But the matter of the fact is that neither US nor India are keen to keep their interests intact. Bush administration, especially President Bush himself, wants to achieve a diplomatic milestone by bringing India into the Nuclear non-proliferation Treaty ambit. That will make the administration boast of an achievement denied by the misadventures elsewhere.
A more larger sphere of this agreement lies within the intention of the Bush administration to make them take a lesson from this agreement. The motive has been explicitly told by Burn himself in the same meet. “The agreement also sends an important message to nuclear outlaw regimes such as Iran. It sends a message that if you behave responsibly in regards to nonproliferation and you play by the rules, you will not be penalized, but will be invited to participate more fully in international nuclear trade. India has not proliferated, unlike North Korea in the past. India is willing to subject itself to full IAEA safeguards, unlike Iran today. And India has not violated its nuclear obligations, as Iran has and continues to do. Iran, of course, has reneged on its most important international commitments,” he told the media. Mark the word, ‘responsibly’ and ‘by the rules,’ where the inherent meaning echoes wishes of the US administrators. The message is clear and same that of five years ago: either you are with us or against US.
This agreement will also have a larger impact in another field. That of the nuclear trade. Indian nuclear program, civilian as well as strategic, was hitherto pursued independently by successive governments owing to the sanctions by US and Nuclear Suppliers Group. But this agreement will bring it closer in relation to US which means US companies will have a major role to play in the near future in India. Mr. Burns said, “The final benefit will be that American firms will be, for the first time in three decades, able to invest in India's nuclear industry. American companies have the finest nuclear technology in the world, and we are looking forward to American firms having the opportunity to bring their latest technology to the Indian market. We are confident that American companies will have equal access to this huge market and that they will succeed there.”
This agreement, which will bring US many fruits in just a stone. Indian government have inched forward to sign on this deal and for what price! Going by the confidence of US authorities and confidentiality preserved in the matter, it is all possible that Indian government will not be able to show off this agreement as an accomplishment, but rather a misdeed, committed in haste and repaid in stretches.
The time factor is the crucial issue in the affair between Indo-US deal. While the United Progressive Alliance government in India want to showcase this deal as the one significant foreign policy achievement before it goes to public for a renewed mandate next year, the George W. Bush administration in US also wants it to be finalised before the 2008 presidential election. The UPA government in lead by the Congress party that was in abyss for the eight years before it came to power. The erstwhile BJP led National Democratic Alliance government pursued some aggressive foreign policy, of which the Nuclear tests were a major part and cemented friendlier ties with US, both in Bill Clinton and George Bush regime. UPA needs something to counter that success and this deal provides the best chance for it to do so. Bush administration’s predicament in Iraq as well as its almost failure in the war against terrorism is evident to everybody now. The need for the administration to illustrate one aspect where it has reaped some gains assumed significance now. That explains why both sides want to ink the deal as soon as possible.
The speed with which both sides moved has been amply demonstrated in the statement by the Assistant Secretary of State Nicolas Burns, who was a key figure in the negotiations that led up to the finalization of the agreement. As Mr. Burns informed the mêlée, the negotiations lasted for about two years and two day. But, “First of all, we were very careful when we began these -- the latest phase of these negotiations to remind the Indian Government that since the President and Prime Minister had their two agreements of July '05 and March '06, something else had happened: The Congress had debated over six, seven months those agreements and the Congress has passed the Hyde Act. …. First, in late May, early June, the Indians came to us and said that they were ready to build a new state-of-the-art reprocessing facility that would be under IAEA safeguards and that any reprocessing of spent fuel would be done in conjunction with that new facility, fully safeguarded, fully transparent to the IAEA and to the United States and to the international community. That was a significant development in the negotiations.” It was clear from the above statement that the matter was settled in just two months when the Indian government agreed to set up a reprocessing facility which will go through the inspection of IATA.
Even as the nod from the Congress is awaited for this agreement, Mr. Burns has sent cat among pigeons by announcing that the right of return from this agreement remains, as imbibed in US laws with the reigning presidents. That effectively nullifies Indian diplomat’s claims that India’s national interests are well preserved in this deal. But the matter of the fact is that neither US nor India are keen to keep their interests intact. Bush administration, especially President Bush himself, wants to achieve a diplomatic milestone by bringing India into the Nuclear non-proliferation Treaty ambit. That will make the administration boast of an achievement denied by the misadventures elsewhere.
A more larger sphere of this agreement lies within the intention of the Bush administration to make them take a lesson from this agreement. The motive has been explicitly told by Burn himself in the same meet. “The agreement also sends an important message to nuclear outlaw regimes such as Iran. It sends a message that if you behave responsibly in regards to nonproliferation and you play by the rules, you will not be penalized, but will be invited to participate more fully in international nuclear trade. India has not proliferated, unlike North Korea in the past. India is willing to subject itself to full IAEA safeguards, unlike Iran today. And India has not violated its nuclear obligations, as Iran has and continues to do. Iran, of course, has reneged on its most important international commitments,” he told the media. Mark the word, ‘responsibly’ and ‘by the rules,’ where the inherent meaning echoes wishes of the US administrators. The message is clear and same that of five years ago: either you are with us or against US.
This agreement will also have a larger impact in another field. That of the nuclear trade. Indian nuclear program, civilian as well as strategic, was hitherto pursued independently by successive governments owing to the sanctions by US and Nuclear Suppliers Group. But this agreement will bring it closer in relation to US which means US companies will have a major role to play in the near future in India. Mr. Burns said, “The final benefit will be that American firms will be, for the first time in three decades, able to invest in India's nuclear industry. American companies have the finest nuclear technology in the world, and we are looking forward to American firms having the opportunity to bring their latest technology to the Indian market. We are confident that American companies will have equal access to this huge market and that they will succeed there.”
This agreement, which will bring US many fruits in just a stone. Indian government have inched forward to sign on this deal and for what price! Going by the confidence of US authorities and confidentiality preserved in the matter, it is all possible that Indian government will not be able to show off this agreement as an accomplishment, but rather a misdeed, committed in haste and repaid in stretches.
