The N-deal is significant as it brings India out of its nuclear closet and allows free flow of sophisticated technology into the country.
NEW DELHI: The India-US nuclear agreement is not perfect. No agreement is. Certainly not one signed by two countries with competing national interests. But within these constraints the deal is significant as it brings India out of its nuclear closet and allows the free flow of sophisticated technology into the country.
Overall it is a good agreement for India, though there are some critical and several grey areas. Much will depend on how the bilateral 123 agreement between India and the United States is finally worked out. The 123 agreement will codify and put in place the contents of the bill passed in the US Congress.
But there is a long way yet to go before nuclear technology or even nuclear fuel can come into India. Apart from the bilateral agreement which has to be worked out with the US, India-specific safeguards have to be signed with the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. The Nuclear Suppliers Group will also have to lift the current restrictions imposed on India banning it from international nuclear commerce for not signing the NPT.
All this can take time and not even senior officials can put a time-frame when the nuclear agreement will finally show results on the ground. It could be anywhere between six months to one year.
However, there are many who believe the bill spells doom to India’s nuclear programme.
“I urge that the government of India and our Parliament to reject this Indo-US deal without waiting for any further step by the US , and give the maximum support to the Department of Atomic Energy to push forward with the three-stage indigenous nuclear power program,” says Gopalkrishnan, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board. Gopalkrishnan goes on to slam the bill. “In the final version of the bill, no fuel supply assurances are given for the reactors we may import in future. The bill insists that the IAEA safeguards must be in perpetuity and it is made explicit that if India ever conducts a nuclear test , the entire deal is off.”
K Santanam, former scientific adviser to the DRDO, believes the deal is significant because it will help the energy needs of the country. He points out there is an acute shortage of uranium in India and this agreement will help New Delhi to ensure a smooth supply for its reactors. By 2020, India hopes to meet at least 20 per cent of its power requirements from nuclear power stations.
The most explosive issue for the government will be the link with Iran which is part of the bill. When Pranab Mukherjee makes his statement in Parliament next week, the government will be attacked both from the BJP and more critically from its Left allies. Seeing this coming, the government has already tried to do some fire-fighting by saying on Friday: “The legislation contains some extraneous and prescriptive provisions” and goes on to assert that the PM had already said that no legislation enacted abroad can take away India’s right to make its foreign policy choices.
How this works out with the Left is difficult to say. But there is bound to be plenty of fireworks.
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