Finally, it’s over. The civil nuclear deal between India and the United States has crossed all legislative hurdles, and President George W. Bush, pen ready, is waiting to sign it into law.
For Bush it’s a major foreign policy score given that his administration faces major setbacks in Afghanistan-Pakistan, North Korea and continuing troubles in Iraq. A tottering economy adds to Bush’s legacy issues.
For Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Thursday morning’s Senate vote of confidence in the nuclear deal is the culmination of a dogged pursuit of a goal on which he staked the survival of his government and his personal credibility.
“I’m greatly relieved. We’ll be able to set this issue aside and start a new chapter in our relations. The nuclear deal had sucked out all the oxygen out of other aspects of our relationship,” Lalit Mansingh, former Indian envoy to the US, told the Hindustan Times.
Mansingh, one of those who batted for the deal, like many other Indian foreign policy pundits, has concerns about the fine print of the law that’s been passed and the status of fuel supply assurances in the deal.
In his first reaction to the Senate vote, Anil Kakodkar, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, took a cautious line.
“We need to study the whole thing and act according to our national interests,” he told the Hindustan Times by telephone from Vienna.
The Indian side is waiting for a statement from President Bush, in which he could address New Delhi’s concerns on nuclear fuel supplies, which the US chief executive has described as a political, and not legal, commitment.
“On balance, it’s a good deal, but there are loose ends that could create complications in the long-term,” a former Indian diplomat, who preferred anonymity, said Thursday.
“The Americans have to convince us that the fine print and their statements don’t put us at a disadvantage,” Mansingh felt, pointing out that the French were offering fuel supply assurances as well as reprocessing possibilities.
A letter written to the Washington by New Delhi offering to place orders for at least 10,000 megawatts of power capacity that “takes into account affordability, sustainability of nuclear fuel resources and credibility of nuclear waste management” makes India’s position pretty clear.
With any quantum leap, there are bound to be concerns. But, there’s little doubt that the US and India have sealed a new relationship, which will impact global strategic equations.
And, New Delhi, of course is more than aware that breaking the international non-proliferation regime without American help would have been an impossible task.