Doubts Grow Over U.S.-India Nuclear Deal

[AztecInca]

Doubts Grow Over U.S.-India Nuclear Deal

By MATTHEW ROSENBERG

The Associated Press

Sunday, August 26, 2007; 2:50 PM

NEW DELHI -- The United States gave India nearly everything it wanted in a landmark nuclear energy deal, but that may not be enough for a vocal chorus of Indian critics.

A wave of opposition has left India's government reeling and raised serious doubts about the deal's future. Critics argue the agreement could undermine India's cherished nuclear weapons program and allow the U.S. to dictate Indian foreign policy.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gestures during a meeting in New Delhi, India, in this, July 13, 2007 file photo. India got nearly everything it wanted in a landmark nuclear energy deal with the United States, but for a vocal chorus of critics, everything may simply not be enough when dealing with America. The deal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in an Aug. 13 speech to Parliament, is "another step in our journey to regain our due place in global councils." It's unlikely that most of the deal's opponents heard his defense of the pact that day, they were too busy shouting him down and disrupting Parliament, as they have done nearly every day since. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File) (Manish Swarup - AP)

Leading the charge are the communist allies of India's prime minister, and beneath their arguments many here see a deeper objection _ they don't want New Delhi drawn closer to Washington under any circumstances.

For both countries, the stakes are enormous.

The deal has been repeatedly touted as the foundation of an alliance that could potentially redraw the global balance of power, completing the transformation of a once-hostile relationship between the world's two largest democracies.

U.S. policymakers see India as a counterweight to an ever-more powerful China, and the deal reverses three decades of American policy by allowing the shipment of nuclear fuel and technology to India, which never signed international nonproliferation accords and has tested atomic weapons.

The two years of painstaking negotiations to reach the deal have also provided President Bush with a foreign policy achievement amid the Iraq war and other crises.

For India, the benefits are arguably greater. Its booming but energy-starved economy would gain access to much-needed nuclear fuel and technologies that it has been long denied by its refusal to sign nonproliferation accords. Even though the deal only covers civilian nuclear power, it tacitly acknowledges India as a nuclear-weapons state, giving its weapons program a degree of international legitimacy _ and adding to India's growing clout.

The deal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in an Aug. 13 speech to Parliament, is "another step in our journey to regain our due place in global councils."

But few of the deal's opponents heard his speech that day _ they were too busy shouting him down and disrupting Parliament, as they have done nearly every day since.

The opponents run the gamut from right-wing Hindu nationalists to the communists, who are key to Singh's parliamentary majority. The nuclear agreement does not need parliamentary approval, but Singh's government could collapse if his communist allies pull their support because of the deal.

Most of their criticism stems from the Hyde Act, passed last year by American lawmakers to allow nuclear trade with India.

It contains a nonbinding clause directing the U.S. president to determine whether India is cooperating with American efforts to confront Iran about its nuclear program. That has been seized on by Indian critics as proof that Washington intends to direct New Delhi's foreign policy.

The nuclear deal does not address what happens if India tests an atomic weapon _ a sign, American critics say, that New Delhi got too much out of the pact.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gestures during a meeting in New Delhi, India, in this, July 13, 2007 file photo. India got nearly everything it wanted in a landmark nuclear energy deal with the United States, but for a vocal chorus of critics, everything may simply not be enough when dealing with America. The deal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in an Aug. 13 speech to Parliament, is "another step in our journey to regain our due place in global councils." It's unlikely that most of the deal's opponents heard his defense of the pact that day, they were too busy shouting him down and disrupting Parliament, as they have done nearly every day since. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File) (Manish Swarup - AP)

Indian critics, meanwhile, argue that the lack of an explicit right to test is a sign the U.S. aims to shut down the country's weapons program.

But for the communists, their ultimate objection appears simply to be the United States.

"We must stand against a strategic partnership with the United States of America," said Basudeb Acharya, a top official of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

He called the invasion of Iraq and Washington's efforts to stop Iran from producing nuclear weapons "foreign policy adventures," and said: "We want no part of this."

The standoff has the communists warning Singh not to press ahead with the next steps in the deal _ negotiating agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a group of nations that export nuclear material _ and the prime minister daring them to stop him.

But with talk of early elections growing louder, both sides have started to back down. They are expected to announce this week the creation of a committee to examine the deal before pushing ahead with it.

That, Indian and American officials privately say, could end up scuttling the pact, which still has to be approved by U.S. lawmakers, delaying it to the point where it is no longer viable.

"We will talk and talk and talk and nothing will be done," said a senior member of India's scientific establishment with knowledge of the nuclear deliberations.

"The Americans will not wait forever," he said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivities. "And we will never get an agreement like this again."

American officials, who have publicly stayed out of the fray, privately confirmed that view, saying that with U.S. presidential elections coming up next year, they could only wait so long.

Washington acceded to most of New Delhi's demands, giving India the right to stockpile nuclear fuel and reprocess it, a key step in making weapons.

Abandoning such a deal would "be a major setback to India's international ambitions," said retired Gen. Ashok Mehta, a strategic analyst in New Delhi.

"Long-term, India, without the help of the United States and or any other big power, will take much longer to be counted globally," he said.

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I suppose they will want even more of our uranium now, if this deal falls through.

[questionmark]

Seems to be old news: the newest report on the Times of India:

'Govt ready for mechanism to resolve N-deal stand-off'

27 Aug 2007, 1817 hrs IST,PTI

NEW DELHI: Government on Monday expressed willingness to set up a mechanism to resolve the stand-off with Left parties over the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, CPI leader A B Bardhan said.

Bardhan, who met External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, said the two sides agreed that the mechanism should be at the political level.

"We had a discussion on the issue of the opposition to the Indo-US nuclear cooperation deal. We discussed all the questions. It was decided that a mechanism should be worked out," the CPI General Secretary told reporters after a 90-minute meeting.

He said the Congress leadership would hold separate discussions with other Left parties, CPM, Forward Bloc and RSP.

"After they have come to a conclusion, a formal meeting will be held," Bardhan said.

source: The Times of India

Edited August 27, 2007 by questionmark

[questionmark]

Ok guys, I am getting dizzy here, looks like back to square 1:

Nuke deal on hold, panel to go into Left concerns

30 Aug 2007, 1735 hrs IST,PTI

NEW DELHI: In a climb down, the Government today put on hold the operationalisation of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal pending the findings of a committee constituted to go into the objections raised by the Left parties.

"The operationalisation of the deal will take into account the Committee's findings," a statement read out by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said after a meeting of the Congress and Left parties, bringing to an end the three-week stand-off between the two sides on the deal.

The meeting decided to set up a committee, the composition of which would be announced shortly.

Though Mukherjee did not take any questions after the 30-minute meeting at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence, the Left leaders said the statement makes it very clear that the Government will not operationalise the deal till the committee's findings are known.

Source: The Times of India

[questionmark]

Negotiations on N-deal not on hold: Govt

31 Aug 2007, 1826 hrs IST,PTI

NEW DELHI: As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh came out in strong defence of the Indo-US nuclear deal, government on Friday said that negotiations on the agreement have not been put on hold and it was free to pursue them.

A day after agreeing to set up a committee to address the Left parties' concerns on the deal, the government noted that there was nothing in UPA-Left statement that prevented it from pursuing the negotiations with IAEA or NSG to implement the agreement.

"Negotiations on the Indo-US nuclear deal are not put on hold," Parliamentary Affairs Minister P R Dasmunsi told a press conference when asked whether yesterday's decision meant that the agreement has been put on hold.

He said no date has been fixed for negotiations with IAEA. "How can I say it has been put on hold?"

Source: Times of India

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Now dear Indian Government, could you get your story straight? This is getting to be kind of cacophonous.....