Indo-US nuclear deal

The India-specific IAEA Safeguards, after clearance by the IAEA Board of Governors was forwarded to the US administration for getting the clearance from the US Congress, followed by US proposal seeking blanket exemption to India to approach 45-member Nuclear Supplier’s Group (NSG) for nuclear fuel.

There are non-proliferation loyalists and NGOs in US trying to impose conditions to restrain India from continuing with its N-weapons programme. The non-proliferation specialists remarked that unlike 178 other countries, India has not signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and it is one of the three countries which have not signed the NTP. The group is not for India getting the rights and privileges of civil nuclear trade that have been reserved only for members in good standing under the NPT.

The world community should remember that India is the only country which is pursuing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, including nuclear power in a big way. The country has been behaving very responsibly as a nuclear weapon state, and is in good standing even without signing NPT.

The success of the efforts put-in by the Indian government in getting clearance from its Parliament for the deal now depends on the Bush administration’s ability to get the required exemptions for India to nuclear trade, from the NSG. There are some smaller NSG countries voicing their reservations on the India-specific waivers. But there is broad support from major NSG countries for the waiver, and hence consensus for the waiver may be easy to obtain in the meeting to be held on September 2, 2008. Finally, India may be able to operationalise the Indo-US nuclear deal.