INDIA: Indo-U.S. Nuclear Deal on Track, But Kinks Remain

• by Ranjit Devraj (new delhi)
• Thursday, November 26, 2009
• Inter Press Service

Singh had to fight domestic opposition to the deal and at one point even staked his job over what its other main architect, former President George W. Bush, described during a visit to India last month as this country’s 'passport to the world.'

The March 2006 deal ended India’s nuclear isolation, which began when it first tested a nuclear device in 1973. Bush’s successor, President Barack Obama, who holds nuclear non-proliferation as a key plank of his foreign policy, had appeared hesitant to implement the treaty. Singh said ahead of the trip, in an interview with the ‘Newsweek’ magazine, that he would be seeking a 'positive affirmation' that the process would be carried through.

Obama was obliging. At a joint press conference in Washington on Tuesday, the U.S. President said, 'I reaffirmed to the Prime Minister my administration’s commitment to fully implement the U.S.-India civil nuclear agreement, which will increase American exports and create jobs in both countries.'

By referring to India as a 'nuclear power' at the Tuesday conference, Obama subtly signaled full acceptance of India’s status gained through a stealthy nuclear weapon test in March 1998.

'As nuclear powers we can be full partners in preventing the spread of the world’s most deadly weapons, securing loose nuclear material from terrorists, in pursing our shared vision of a world without nuclear weapons,' Obama said at the televised conference.

Obama clearly had in mind support from India for a nuclear security summit that he plans to host in Washington in April 2010 to make good on anti-proliferation policy promises outlined during his election campaign—which many here saw as being inimical to the Indo-U.S. deal.

Already the Obama administration has been calling upon existing nuclear powers to reduce their strategic arms arsenals, enforcement of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) on other countries and control over fissile materials that are used to produce nuclear weapons.

'With a Congress dominated by Democrats, India cannot hope for the kind of support for the nuclear deal that was forthcoming during the Bush years when Washington ensured necessary clearances for India from the Nuclear Suppliers Group to engage in nuclear commerce, although India is a not signatory to the NPT,' said Prof Christopher Raj, an expert on American studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in the Indian capital.

Raj told IPS that differences showed up in the fact that an agreement could not be reached during the current visit on nuclear fuel reprocessing, prompting Singh to admit at the press conference that there were still some 'Ts to be crossed and Is to be dotted.'

The ‘Indian Express’ newspaper reported on Tuesday that the customary final text would not deviate from the original ‘123 agreement’—so called because it amends section 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act to permit India a one-time exception to the global nuclear nonproliferation regime.

The ‘Express’ report added that the U.S. side wanted to include 'more reporting and certification requirements,' which 'proved intractable as both sides struggled to find the text and language that could serve each other’s purpose.'

Raj said that there is a proposal to set up an international reprocessing centre in India, which could serve the whole region. If this comes through it could work to this country’s advantage. 'The other candidate, China, is seen as a proliferator,' he said.

Differences between the Indian and U.S. sides surfaced during negotiations for the nuclear deal, which stretch back to 1995, on how to manage U.S. supplies of nuclear fuel that is burned in India reactors.

Spent fuel can be reprocessed to extract plutonium, which can be used to make nuclear bombs, or in fast-breeder reactors, which produce more nuclear fuel than they consume.

Pointing out that the U.S. allows its close allies, including Japan, to reprocess spent fuel, Indian negotiators have been demanding similar treatment for India.

India also has an ambitious fast-breeder reactor programme, which is aimed at exploiting its abundant deposits of thorium, a nuclear fuel. While India has less than one percent of the world reserves of natural uranium, and needs to import the mineral, it has 30 percent of the global reserves of thorium.

According to the terms of the deal India can have reprocessing rights on condition it establishes a national facility to safeguard nuclear material that is monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Also, India must put in place 'arrangements and procedures,' under which reprocessing of U.S. fuel can be carried out.

© Inter Press Service (2009) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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