India and US 123 agreement Sealed
just need congress and parliment to pass it
atimes.com
India's US nuclear deal in last straight
By Siddharth Srivastava
NEW DELHI - A final version of the India-United States nuclear deal, called the 123 Agreement, has been sealed, though the contents of the 30-page document have not been revealed, indicating that there could still be some political space to be covered, even if the technical details seem to have been sorted out.
Top Indian officials and a host of high-level US administration personnel have been engaged over the past week to thrash out
the disagreements that have stalled the pact so far. The agreement will allow US companies to sell nuclear fuel and technology to India.
A joint communique was issued in Washington that said the discussions were "constructive and positive", and both Nicholas Burns, the under secretary of state for political affairs, and Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon "are pleased with the substantial progress made on the outstanding issues".
"Both the United States and India look forward to the completion of these remaining steps and to the conclusion of this historic Initiative," the communique said, without specifying whether the "remaining steps" are just the political clearance or whether there is still technical ground to be covered.
In what has been a deliberate exercise, senior unnamed officials have been quoted in various media forums as saying that the text has been "basically finalized", but the document cannot be divulged.
Deputy State Department spokesman Tom Casey said: "It [final agreement] will have a full review, I'm sure, by appropriate committees and members of Congress, as well as by you guys [Indian] and other interested members of the public."
The three-day talks extended to an extra day on Thursday and then into Friday.
The two sides will now refer the issue to their governments for final review. Despite the bipartisan support in the US Congress for the nuclear deal, there are many who still oppose it.
India and US have been trying to iron out the nuclear pact with a flurry of officials traveling to and fro in the recent past. There are reports of give-and-take to accommodate each other's apprehensions and laws.
In what could still turn out to be the precursor to the grand finale, over the past week top people, such as Vice President Dick Cheney, considered as one main power center, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates popped on various occasions to meet Indian officials.
Others involved included national security advisers Stephen Hadley and M K Narayanan. One key person was India's atomic energy chairman, Anil Kakodkar, who must have closely studied the scientific details. His presence is crucial to win the nod from the scientific community in India, which would have been averse to just bureaucrats handling the draft.
It is now expected that Rice will visit New Delhi in August or September for the political event associated with the agreement, though it would be premature to assume anything until all details are out in the open, discussed and sealed.
In India, the left parties, used to enjoying the trappings of power without any responsibility, will closely study the fine print and are sure to find faults, given their dislike for anything connected with the US.
The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has called for the setting up of a joint parliamentary committee to oversee the "agreement" and report back to Parliament, which could turn out to be another endless and protracted cycle of discussions and finger-pointing.
The contentious issues relate to New Delhi's right to conduct another nuclear arms test without the US breaking civilian relations and India's right to reprocess spent fuel and be assured of permanent fuel supplies.
It would be politically suicide if New Delhi cedes any of the above conditions to be legally binding, while it would be difficult for Washington to steer the agreement through Congress for a final up-and-down vote, given existing laws that prohibit nuclear testing.
Apart from the cabinet ratifying the agreement, the next steps for India involve negotiating a safeguards agreement with the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and an endorsement of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, which sets the rules for global nuclear commerce.
Along with the civilian reactors, the IAEA will have to be provided access to the separate facility for reprocessed fuel to satisfy the international community that it is not used for military purposes.
Washington has been pushing for the final blueprint as the Bush administration is keen to highlight the achievement before it runs out of its term.
The Manmohan Singh-led Congress government faces general elections in the summer of 2009 and would also like to show off the nuclear deal as a part solution to India's power woes, without compromising its military program.
Even as officials met in Washington, Manmohan said in New Delhi that the negotiations were in the "last leg", but he did not predict by when the agreement would be firmed up.
It is interesting to note that the discussions in Washington were led by a team of officials considered to be Manmohan's men, with the political strata of the Foreign Ministry kept out.
The nuclear deal was signed in March 2006 and seeks to allow India access to international civilian nuclear power know-how despite not being a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It is widely seen as the standout achievement of President George W Bush and Manmohan. Bush visited India in March last year.
A powerful lobby in the US wants the nuclear deal sealed, since it opens the way for nuclear power business and massive arms deals. New Delhi, too, has been defending the deal, with the safeguards in place.
Several high-powered US business delegations with representatives of top nuclear firms have been visiting India to study the prospects of nuclear business worth an estimated US$100 billion, of which US firms expect at least $30 billion.
India is expected to purchase weapons worth up to $10 billion each year over the next decade as part of a massive modernization exercise, including the single-largest fighter jet deal for $10 billion, for which US companies Boeing and Lockheed Martin are bidding.
Due to the new strategic levels in the US-Indian relationship, US firms are considered frontrunners to win the deal, given the expectations of Washington. New Delhi recently signed a slew of military purchases from the US.
Siddharth Srivastava is a New Delhi-based journalist. |
