E-Paper
Small step to a big deal
The nuclear deal between India and the United States is entering the homestretch. The amber lights for the first two elements of the deal are turning green.
The nuclear deal between India and the United States is entering the homestretch. The amber lights for the first two elements of the deal are turning green. The present negotiations on the so-called ‘123 Agreement’ on civil nuclear cooperation between the two countries are going smoothly. The amendment of the US Atomic Energy Act is already before the US Congress and the first votes may be cast before summer’s end. Progress on the two international elements of the deal — the safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the end of technology sanctions by the Nuclear Suppliers Group — has been less impressive. But this is because many of the 40-plus members of both bodies are waiting for the US Congress to act first.
The nuts and bolts of the nuclear deal are so technical that only a handful, even among academics and diplomats, can claim full comprehension. It does not help that there are four separate diplomatic tracks at work here, and that a curious dialectic ensures forward movement in one is influenced by what happens in the other three tracks. What everyone agrees is that the deal is big stuff. A special nuclear status for India that grants it nearly all the privileges of a nuclear power without requiring it sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is momentous. Many other governments have also been struck by the fact a supposedly unilateralist Bush administration is lobbying so hard on behalf of India. In many capitals, this is seen as more significant than the deal itself.
The nuclear deal continues to attract shrill opposition from marginal groups in both India and the US. It is easy to pick holes in such a deal: its very complexity means it can never be perfect for all the parties. But it is clear no part of the deal stops India from increasing its fissile material stockpile if it so wishes — the criticism of hypernationalists in India. It is equally clear the deal will not open the doors to nuclear anarchy globally — the criticism of non-proliferation dogmatists in the West. There is little doubt the nuclear deal is good for both India and the US. More telling is that an increasing number of countries are coming to the view it is good for the world as a whole.
