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U.S. Will Not Demand Limits on Indian Fast Breeder Reactor, Prime Minister Says
Indian Prime Minster Manmohan Singh told the Indian parliament that the United States would not demand that New Delhi place its fast-breeder nuclear reactor under international safeguards under the terms of a nuclear technology-sharing agreement between the two countries, Electricity Daily reported today (see GSN, March 9). “We are preparing a list of 14 reactors that would be offered for safeguards, over the next eight years, between 2006 and 2014,” he said. “We do not wish to place any encumbrances on our fast breeder program, and this has been fully ensured in the separation plan.” “India has decided to place under safeguards all future civilian thermal power reactors and civilian breeder reactors, and the government of India retains the sole right to determine such reactors as civilian. This means that India will not be constrained in any way in building future nuclear facilities, whether civilian or military, as per our national requirements,” he added (Electricity Daily, March 10). Meanwhile, Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Dai Bingguo is expected to meet today with Indian National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan, the first interaction between the two countries since the nuclear sharing agreement was finalized, the Financial Times reported. China’s reaction to the deal has been cold, according to defense experts. “China is pleased the deal will place restraints on India’s nuclear program but concerned at the showcasing of the new strategic partnership with Washington,” said Brahma Chellaney, defense analyst at the Centre for Policy Research. “Anybody sitting in Beijing or Islamabad can’t miss the larger strategic ramifications of what is happening,” he added. “The Chinese can see that March 2 was not just about nuclear cooperation. It was a major geopolitical realignment.” Shen Dingli, a professor of international relations at Fudan University, said China would not openly criticize the deal but is not pleased with the agreement. “China would view this as something that is not good,” he said. “It challenges China’s own strategic interests in adhering to the current shape of nonproliferation and not seeing an increase in the US presence in the region.” Dingli said China is now more likely to enter into nuclear sharing agreements with Pakistan. “If the U.S. can violate [the nuclear rules], then we can violate them,” he said. China has also offered nuclear sharing agreements to Bangladesh, according to the Times (Johnson/McGregor, Financial Times, March 10).
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