U.S-Indian Deal Compromises on Former Disputes

India has received U.S. permission to separate plutonium from reactor fuel purchased as part of a nuclear trade deal finalized last week, but the agreement bars the U.S. sale of reprocessing or enrichment equipment, The Hindu reported today (see GSN, July 23).

Negotiators completed the so-called “123 agreement” Friday after months of a logjam created by Indian objections to U.S. nuclear nonproliferation provisions.

One key dispute was the U.S. right to demand the return of nuclear materials and technology if India were to conduct additional nuclear weapons tests.  The final deal keeps the “right of return” clause, but promises a U.S. commitment to keep Indian nuclear facilities operating, presumably by finding alternative suppliers, the Hindu reported.

The reprocessing question had been the other major point of contention.  Under the agreement, India would establish a dedicated reprocessing facility with a special monitoring arrangement to be administered by the International Atomic Energy Agency, according to The Hindu.

The U.S. and Indian legislatures must approve the deal for it to take effect, and the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group must also agree to change its export rules that currently deny nuclear trade to nations, such as India, that have refused to join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.  In addition, India must reach a safeguards agreement with IAEA officials to establish international monitoring of the nation’s civilian nuclear program.

Indian officials expressed optimism that that the Nuclear Suppliers Group would approve the deal and would not bar the sale of reprocessing equipment to India (Siddharth Varadarajan, The Hindu, July 24).

Germany’s ambassador to India said yesterday that Berlin would try to “forge a consensus” within the group on rules for selling of nuclear fuel and equipment to New Delhi.

“It's not an easy task (to forge a consensus) given India's consistent refusal to join [the] NPT regime.  But we also understand India's security situation in which it has to operate,” Bernd Muetzelburg told reporters.

“The deal has ended India's nuclear isolation and has brought it to the mainstream,” he added, while saying that bolstering the international nonproliferation regime is “the only way to move forward” (Press Trust of India/Hindustan Times, July 23).

Back to top
About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines © Copyright 2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.