Indian Prime Minister Defends U.S. Nuclear Deal

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh responded to critics of a pending U.S.-India nuclear cooperation agreement yesterday by emphasizing the need to find cheaper energy sources, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Aug. 20).

“When we aim for a 10 percent (economic) growth rate, we must recognize the critical importance of energy security,” Singh said without referring directly to the nuclear deal, which has garnered vehement protests from Indian lawmakers who believe it could undermine New Delhi’s nuclear weapons program.

“Our government is committed to the development of nuclear energy,” Singh said in a speech.

Communist parties that make up a key part of the government’s ruling coalition have been particularly vocal recently in opposing the deal.  Protests by communist lawmakers forced India’s parliament to adjourn early again yesterday.

Opposition to the deal is not expected to cause Singh’s government to collapse, but analysts said it has hurt the administration and could prevent India from increasing cooperation with the United States and enacting economic liberalization reforms.

“The ambition of the current regime is to restructure Indo-U.S. relations in a strategic sense — and they now look much less capable of being able to do so,” said Mujibir Rehman, a political science professor at Jamia Millia University in New Delhi (Matthew Rosenberg, Associated Press/Washington Post, Aug. 20).

India has not yet begun negotiating with the International Atomic Energy Agency on a safeguards agreement required for the deal, the Hindustan Times reported yesterday.  India must open its civilian nuclear sites to monitoring to receive access to U.S. nuclear material and technology.

An agreement is not anticipated to be ready for consideration by the agency’s governing board at its planned meeting from Sept. 10 to 14 in Vienna.  The next board session is scheduled from Nov. 22 to 23.

Indian officials could begin high-level discussions with the agency when Indian Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar attends the agency’s general conference in Vienna from Sept. 17 to 21, the Times reported (Ambit Baruah, Hindustan Times I, Aug. 20).

India’s left-wing parties said yesterday they would abandon the ruling coalition should the government move ahead on talks with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the Times reported (Sharma/Patranobis, Hindustan Times II, Aug. 21).

Indian lawmakers today demand that the government recall its ambassador to the United States, who likened them to a “headless chicken” for opposing the deal, Agence France-Presse reported.

“It has been approved here by the president, and there it’s been approved by the Indian Cabinet,” the Web site Rediff India Abroad quoted ambassador Ronen Sen as saying.  “So why do you have all this running around like a headless chicken?”

Parliament’s upper and lower houses were adjourned amid protests today, and Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee called the comments “totally unwarranted and unacceptable.”

Sen later said his comments were referring to media coverage of the nuclear deal.

“My comment about running round like [a] headless chicken looking for a comment here or a comment there was a tactless observation on some of my media friends and most certainly not with reference to any honorable [member of parliament],” he said (Agence France-Presse I/Yahoo!News, Aug. 21).

Meanwhile, a Pakistani official suggested yesterday that his nation would likely follow an Indian nuclear test with a test blast of its own, AFP reported.

Indian officials have said that a civilian nuclear cooperation deal with the United States would not impinge on New Delhi’s right to conduct nuclear tests.  U.S. officials have contradicted that statement.

“We take seriously the assertions by the India leadership about the possibility of resuming nuclear tests,” said Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam.

“Resumption of nuclear tests by India would create a serious situation obliging Pakistan to review its position and to take action, appropriate and consistent with our supreme national interest,” she said.

Both countries last conducted nuclear tests nine years ago.  Neither has joined the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (Agence France-Presse II/Spacewar.com, Aug. 20).

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