Speaking of Nuclear matters
Over the last month, I have been struggling to understand the nuclear deal and its intricacies. It was all made more complex by the acronyms (NSG, ENR, 123, Hyde Act), the cacophony (The Left, the BJP), the babel (Laloo Prasad Yadav, the Indian Media) and then the crisis (The July no-confidence motion against the UPA government). Somewhere in this mayhem, we lost perspective on what this ruckus is all about. Most "expert" opinions seemed to be either following ideology or emotional dribble rather than offering any logical arguments.
To be for it or against it, it is first important to understand it. I will try to explain it as simply and clearly as possible. The Hyde Act is a good place to start. It is an act initiated by the late Republican Rep. Henry J. Hyde and passed by the US Congress in January 2006. Current US policy forbids dealing, in nuclear technology, with nations that are not part of the Nuclear Non-proliferation treaty. Currently India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea are the only countries that are not part of it. The Hyde Act is an unusual exception made only for India. In fact, both Israel and Pakistan have demanded similar treaties but the US has refused.
While it may be of interest to think about why Uncle Sam is making this exception for India (after all, he's not really your Uncle), I think this line of thought opens up a hornet's nest of other political discussions (China, Afghanistan, India's anti-Iran vote, US hegemony, geopolitics etc.) and takes us away from the most moot question. One that we in India should really be asking.
India needs much more energy for its economy to grow and nuclear energy has been around for almost half a century. There are currently over 30 countries, including India, that are using nuclear power for energy purposes. None of these other nations have any special treaties with the US. So why does India need special permission? Once you ask yourself that question, the cacophonous din begins to die and the puzzle starts making sense.
If the Indian government cares so much about India's poverty and its desperate need for energy then why don't we become signatories to the Non Proliferation Treaty and start using our nuclear capabilities for energy production? We will neither need the Hyde Act or the 123 Agreement nor will we be dependent on US permission. We can happily deal with the US like any other nation selling nuclear fuel. And if the price is not right, we can go to some other seller. And then at some point, hopefully in the near future, if we need to stop our nuclear power plants and switch over to cleaner forms of energy such as solar or hydro, then no one can stop us from doing so. Certainly that seems like a more sovereign decision.
The only reason for not following that route is because the Indian Government wants to keep testing nuclear bombs. The desire to test and perhaps use them is certainly stronger than concerns for eradicating poverty or addressing India's pressing energy needs. This has to be true because otherwise we could have started using Nuclear energy a long time ago. The NPT has been around since 1968.
If you support India's nuclear weapons, what the Bush administration is offering India is certainly a good deal. It is actually a Godsend from that highly religious man of God. Without really explicitly stating it or refuting it, it allows India the "possibility" for testing nuclear weapons. This is what the Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting, currently being held in Vienna, is all about. They want assurances that we won't proliferate and we're trying to pacify them using Power-point presentations that we're really nice guys. "Impeccable Record" seems to be a constant heading for that slide.
The Left parties are certainly wrong in opposing this deal as anti-national. It fits in perfectly with India's blind nationalism of bombs. The Left has acted like stupid ideologues and come across as morons who are blindly anti-American. If there was skepticism about the US they should have pushed the UPA government to sign the Non Proliferation Treaty and come under the aegis of the IAEA. But signing the NPT has never been on the Left's agenda. The CPI(M), which sullies the name of Marx by adopting it, thinks the IAEA is anti-national!
The BJP's opposition to the deal is that it is unclear on testing. They want it explicitly stated in the 123 agreement that India should be able to test nuclear bombs. It is their sovereign right to destroy India's land any damn way they please. And they will bomb it, underground, over-ground, on the ground, whenever they like. Jai Sri Ram.
Most people in the Indian media have deliberately muddled the argument by pointing to extraneous issues like counter balancing China, strengthening of Indo-US relations, Pakistan being jealous and other such nonsense because they are as much in favor of testing and no one wants to discuss the possibility of giving up India's nuclear weapons program.
Anyone who supports a nuclear free world, and I'm sure there are many of you out there, should be against the present form of the Indo-US deal. It sets a dangerous precedent and if India wants to project itself in a leadership role then setting dangerous precedents is not the smartest way to go about it. We should sign the NPT and dismantle the nuclear weapons program. Then, if we need to use nuclear energy, nobody can stop us because the NPT has specific provisions for using nuclear power for civilian purposes. And for the nationalists... buddies that would be in India's national interest as well.
If you are a US resident, reading this, please help in sabotaging this deal. Write to your Congressman to make it compulsory for the Bush Administration to refuse nuclear fuel to India if India refuses to sign the Non Proliferation Treaty. India desperately needs Nuclear Energy and this is a great chance for all anti-nuclear activists to force India into the NPT agreement. The Indian Government has oversold the deal to the masses and a US refusal will be very hard, if not impossible, for the Indian Government to spin here.
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