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Indo-U.S. Nuclear Deal Hits Snags
Talks between top Indian and U.S. officials last week have raised doubts that a draft nuclear technology sharing agreement would be ready for congressional consideration ahead of a state visit to India by President George W. Bush in early March, the Financial Times reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 26). “Certainly we intend to finish the agreement before the president’s trip, but we are not at the stage where we could call it complete,” one senior Bush administration official told the Times. “Not much progress was made in closing the gap between the two sides,” a U.S. official in Washington said, referring to last week’s talks. “We are waiting for a new proposal from the Indians in the next week to 10 days. It won’t happen [in time for the trip] if there is no movement.” India has yet to present a detailed plan for separating its civil and military nuclear facilities, the Times reported. No agreement has been reached on whether India’s civilian nuclear sites would permanently fall under international safeguards, among other issues. “Congress might like India and want to help India, but it has to be convinced that making this exception for India will strengthen the nonproliferation regime. Right now the drafts just don’t cut the mustard. If there isn’t a clear majority of its facilities under inspection, it will be hard to sell,” said a U.S. official in New Delhi. Differences remain over safeguards for India’s breeder reactor program, which could produce weapon-grade plutonium, said George Perkovich, vice president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “It is hard to see anything meaningful emerging. The talks weren’t a step forward or backwards. We are kind of standing there. The administration overestimated their power and logic and underestimated the problems and they are panicking,” he said (Daniel/Johnson, Financial Times, Jan. 26). India yesterday protested U.S. Ambassador David Mulford’s suggestion that any deal was dependent on New Delhi backing Washington’s effort to refer Iran’s controversial nuclear activities to the U.N. Security Council, the Associated Press reported. Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran told Mulford that his remarks “were inappropriate and not conducive to building a strong partnership between our two independent democracies,” the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement. “India’s vote on any possible resolution on the Iran nuclear issue at the (International Atomic Energy Agency) would be determined by India’s own judgment of the merits of the case,” the Foreign Ministry quoted Saran as telling Mulford (Ashok Sharma, Associated Press/San Jose Mercury News, Jan. 26).
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