India Sees Nuclear Deal as Key to Global Cooperation

India’s foreign minister this week urged progress on implementing a bilateral nuclear trade agreement with the United States, saying that the deal would trigger international cooperation at many levels (see GSN, Oct. 1).

“When I look at the issues of the future, namely energy security, the environment, food security, and the possible spread of weapons of mass destruction, it is clear to me that each issue will require all states, and particularly countries like India and the USA, to work together,” said Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, in a speech Monday to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.  “The new challenges that are emerging, including protecting the electronically connected and interdependent world from terror and organized crime, are immensely complex.  Handling this complexity requires much closer international cooperation than has been the case till now.”

“It is also naive to expect the international system to deal with such complex and significant issues without democratizing international decision-making,” he added.  In recent years, the U.N. Security Council has rebuffed Indian efforts to become a permanent council member.

Mukherjee argued that enacting the U.S.-Indian nuclear deal would lead to greater international trade.

“The bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement that India and the USA have finalized indicates the way forward, which should lead to the lifting of technology restrictions and the opening up of cooperation in this field with several countries,” he said.

The deal calls for the United States to provide nuclear materials and technology to India’s civilian nuclear power sector, in exchange for New Delhi placing its entire civilian program under international monitoring.

The deal is contingent upon India receiving an exemption from international trade rules that prohibit nuclear sales to nations that have not joined the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and do not allow international oversight of all their nuclear activities.

Should the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group agree to change these guidelines, other nations would be able to join the United States in selling nuclear technology to India (see GSN, Oct. 2 and Aug. 16; Greg Webb, Global Security Newswire, Oct. 3).

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