With the nuclear deal caught in a Left tangle, there is a visible slowdown in the pace of India’s burgeoning military and strategic engagement with the United States.
NEW DELHI : With the nuclear deal caught in a Left tangle, there is a visible slowdown in the pace of India’s burgeoning military and strategic engagement with the United States.
The Manmohan Singh government has put on hold two key accords for defence and maritime cooperation that, along with the nuclear deal, would have changed the nature of Indo-US ties.
One is the access and cross-servicing agreement, also known as the Logistics Support Agreement. This would have permitted US forces to move into, through and out of India as part of its military operations.
The other is the Container Security Initiative giving the US the right to apprehend and search any ship or container in an Indian port if it was thought to be carrying high-risk cargo like weapons of mass destruction or nuclear material.
Significantly, the Left is strongly opposed to both and had singled them out for specific criticism when it launched its campaign to stop the nuclear deal.
“Neither agreement is on the cards at the moment,” external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee confirmed to DNA. “Our overall approach with the US is an issue-based one, as and when the need arises. We are not thinking of [these agreements] at this time.’’
Negotiations for the CSI are complete and the document had even been put on the agenda for Cabinet approval last summer. It was withdrawn at the last moment for unstated reasons. It is believed that the government decided to hold back till the nuclear deal went through.
The LSA is not yet final but it is no longer on the table for discussions. Both accords formed part of the July 18 Indo-US joint statement announcing a new era in bilateral ties with the nuclear deal as the centerpiece.
Now that the nuclear deal is stuck in long-drawn negotiations with the Left, there has been a domino effect on several elements of the July 18 package, particularly the ones related to sensitive strategic areas.
While the government is loathe to admit it, the slowdown on the military and strategic fronts seems to be a sop to the Left, possibly as a tactic to get it on board for the nuclear deal.
However, the Left wants more than a go-slow. It wants the government to opt out of defence cooperation with the US and it wants a public acknowledgement of this. “The government must make its intentions clear. We want India to disengage from the strategic partnership with the US,’’ said a senior CPI(M) leader who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Till that happens, he said, his party would continue to oppose the nuclear deal and not allow the government to proceed to the next stage of operationalisation, which is to take the IAEA safeguards agreement, currently under negotiation, to the Nuclear Suppliers Group for the go-ahead to engage in nuclear trade.
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