123 deal must happen now: Mulford

[Awesome]

The Hindu News Update Service

New York, Sept. 26 (PTI): A deafening silence on the civil nuclear deal during the last four days of India@60 celebrations was broken by the US, which said the 123 agreement must be completed in the life of the present Congress.

"We have changed laws in the US (when we) negotiated the 123 agreement. Both sides have agreed (to it) and it will move ahead," US Ambassador to India David Mulford said here yesterday, while underlining the importance of the deal to happen before the term of the Congress ends.

The deal, which aims to give India access to American nuclear fuel and equipment to help meet its soaring energy needs even though it has tested nuclear weapons and is not a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, requires to be approved by the US Congress, the IAEA and the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

"Final steps have to be taken with IAEA and NSG. A final vote by the US Congress is also required... time is of the essence," Mulford said, addressing 'India@60: A New Age for Business" conference organized by the CII, USIBC and the Asia Society here.

The civil nuclear initiative with India will help the sub-continent nation in meeting its energy needs, he said, while describing as comprehensive the "456" relations or simply other areas of Indo-US relations.

Indian leaders, including External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, have been silent on the deal during the last four days of celebrations of India's 60th year of independence organized here by the CII and the Ministry of Tourism, barring a passing mention about the pact by India's Ambassador to the US Ronen Sen.

Sen, while addressing the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas New York 2007, mentioned that the Indo-US nuclear deal was an example of the strengthening ties between the two nations.

The Left parties, which offer crucial support to the UPA government in New Delhi, have been resisting the implementation of the agreement entered into in July 2005 saying it would compromise the country's sovereignty.

Earlier, Mulford described India as "nothing short of a modern miracle" for its attributes that include a large population, parliamentary democracy, rule of law, religious tolerance, great degree of human freedom, large private sector economy and its peaceful co-existence with the rest of the world.

He said Indo-US relations were at an all-time high and that Washington wanted to see India become a world power. He said the nuclear attempts to address one area of restriction to India's growth being its energy requirement.

There seems to be a sense of urgency by the US. I'm sure like the rest of the world, they fear congress may be removed any time now.

 

[Neo]

123 agreement opens the door to US to sell their obsolete defence products to India but Indian reactors will still starve of Uranium – how Kakodkar got fooled? ​

Santhi Balasubramanium

The Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission Dr. Anil Kakodkar has stated that the sooner the nuclear deal was concluded, it would be better for the country.

But unknowingly he is totally fooled by the Americans. India gains very little from the 123 agreement. Dr. Placid Rodriguez, a senior nuclear scientist who has been critical of the 123 agreement, explains the whole situation. The 123 agreement opens the door to US to sell their defence products than supply uranium. India will never receive the Uranium needed for its reactors. That was the main purpose of the agreement with the Americans who have opposed Indian nuclear ambitions for the last fifty years.

Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) Dr. Srikumar Banerjee has said that India was looking at meeting the uranium needs of the reactors through new exploration.

He also indicated that India was going ahead to commission eight new generation reactors of 700 megawatts each.

If the 123 agreement is reached India will soon realize how Kakodkar and Manmohan Singh got fooled by the Americans. India will keep the agreement in the sideline and opt for indigenous development of reactors and accelerate the exploration of Uranium.

The geopolitics is complex. America wants to arm India to counter China just like China armed Pakistan to counter India. When America will realize that India is not interested to become an American geopolitical satellite like Japan or Australia, America will provide ‘little’ to India.

IndiaDaily - 123 agreement opens the door to US to sell their obsolete defence products to India but Indian reactors will still starve of Uranium – how Kakodkar got fooled?

 

[Neo]

India duped by Bush ​

If at all America is dominating the world, it is because of its "street smartness". An example is the current Indo-US nuclear treaty. US President George W Bush asks Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to run in the "World Nuclear Power Olympics". Alas, to win the race India has to run for 40 years, the validity period of this agreement - with another 10 years' extension! If India fails, the US and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) - a cartel created specifically by the US to punish India for its nuclear tests by the erstwhile BJP government - will ask India to return the uranium fuel supplied by them for the country's nuclear reactors.

That will effectively end India's civil nuclear power programme, despite assurances of India-specific fuel safeguards from the IAEA and the NSG.

To get back to an indigenous uranium fuel supply chain would be extremely difficult for India. The Americans are counting on this to make it virtually impossible for any future Indian government to conduct a nuclear test since the consequences are so unpalatable. In fact, the Indo-US nuclear deal is essentially a diluted version of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which India, under both Congress and BJP governments, has refused to sign since the 1970s. Why? because the treaty is deeply biased in favour of the five original nuclear "proliferators" - the US, Russia, Britain, France and China.

It unjustly ties the hands of a responsible nuclear power like India which uses nuclear technology to run some of its civil reactors as well as maintain a minimum credible nuclear deterrent. The Bush administration, recognising that 30 years of coercing different Indian governments on non-proliferation had failed, adopted a new strategy after 2005.

The 123 Agreement is the culmination of that strategy. The basic tenet of the Bush anti-proliferation strategy (fully backed by both John McCain and Barack Obama) remains unchanged. Usable nuclear weapons must remain the exclusive preserve of the five old proliferators led by the US. That leaves five other countries with nuclear weapons capability - Israel, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Iran. The US has structured a nuanced policy to deal with each. India with its parliamentary democracy is the world's fourth largest economy and has a big consumer market. It is liberal, secular and has an independent media. Recognising belatedly that India was an "honourable exception" among the five new nuclear states (four of them proxy, fundamentalist or rogue), the US in 2005 crafted a customised nuclear agreement to cap India's nuclear weapons capability until the year 2058 (ie 40 years agreement period +10 years extension if both sides agree). India's nuclear power currently accounts for 3.10 per cent of its total energy output. If the 123 Agreement (or $123 billion business deal) is signed, that figure will crawl up to six per cent (around 16,000 mw) by 2020. (While, over 25pc of India's power output is lost in transmission and distribution). In return for the miniscule accretion of 2.9pc to India's total energy output over 12 years, the country will have to surrender its independent nuclear deterrent, which no patriotic Indian will ever support.

Ramanathan Menon

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[Contrarian]

Neo, i think there is a clause which ensures that there is perpetuity of supplies for any reactor placed under safeguards, as a reactor once placed under safeguards is in it for perpetuity.