India–United States Civil Nuclear Agreement

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File:BushandSingh02Mar2006.jpg
US President George W. Bush and India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh exchange handshakes on March 2, 2006

The United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006 is the legal framework for a bilateral pact between the United States and India under which the U.S. will provide access to civilian nuclear technology and access to nuclear fuel in exchange for IAEA-safeguards on civilian Indian reactors. This act provides the legal basis for a 123 Agreement with India. The 123 agreement requires separate U.S. congressional approval and Indian cabinet approval and will define the exact terms and conditions for bilateral civilian nuclear cooperation.

Background

Signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) are granted access to civilian nuclear technology from each other as well as nuclear fuel via the Nuclear Suppliers Group in exchange for IAEA-verified compliance of the NPT tenets. India, Israel, and Pakistan, however, have not signed the NPT, arguing that instead of addressing the central objective of universal and comprehensive non-proliferation, the treaty creates a club of "nuclear haves" and a larger group of "nuclear have-nots" by restricting the legal possession of nuclear weapons to those states that tested them before 1967, who alone are free to possess and multiply their nuclear stockpiles. The treaty never explains on what ethical grounds such a distinction is valid.[1] India insists on a comprehensive action plan for a nuclear-free world within a specific time-frame and has also adopted a voluntary "no first use policy".

In response to a growing Chinese nuclear arsenal, India conducted nuclear weapon tests in 1974. Led by the US, other nations set up an informal group, the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), to control exports of nuclear materials, equipment and technology[2]. As a result, India was relegated to a pariah status within the international nuclear order. In view of continued proliferation by China and Pakistan, and its own huge population, India conducted 5 more nuclear tests in May, 1998 at Pokhran.

Rationale behind the agreement

The growing energy demands of the Indian and Chinese economies have raised questions on the impact of global energy availability. The Bush Administration has concluded that an Indian shift toward nuclear energy is in the best interest for America to secure its energy needs of coal, crude oil, and natural gas. Moreover, India's strong non-proliferation record and stable democracy further helped justify a nuclear pact with India while not providing Pakistan or others the same.

Since the end of the Cold War, The Pentagon, along with certain U.S. ambassadors such as Robert Blackwill, have requested increased strategic ties with India and a de-hyphenization of Pakistan with India.

Mohammed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which would be in charge of inspecting India's civilian reactors has praised the deal as "it would also bring India closer as an important partner in the nonproliferation regime",[3].

The U.S. also expects that such a deal could spur India's economic growth and bring in $150 billion in the next decade for nuclear power plants, of which the US wants a share[4]. It is India's stated objective to increase the production of nuclear power generation from its present capacity of 4,000 MWe to 20,000 MWe in the next decade.

While India is self-sufficient in thorium, possessing 24% of the world's known and economically available thorium,[5] it possesses a meager 1% of the similarly calculated global uranium reserves.[6] Indian support for cooperation with the U.S. centers around the issue of obtaining a steady supply of sufficient energy to grow the economy.

Indian opposition to the pact centers around the concessions that would need to be made, as well as the likely de-prioritization of research into a thorium fuel-cycle if uranium becomes highly available given the well understood utilization of uranium in a nuclear fuel-cycle.

Agreement

On March 2,2006 in New Delhi, George W. Bush and Manmohan Singh signed a Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, following an initiation during the July 2005 summit in Washington between the two leaders over civilian nuclear cooperation.[7]

Heavily endorsed by the White House, the agreement is thought to be a major victory to George W. Bush's foreign policy initiative and was described by many lawmakers as a cornerstone of the new strategic partnership between the two countries.[8] The agreement is widely considered to help India fulfill its soaring energy demands and enter the U.S. and India into a strategic partnership. The Pentagon speculates this will help ease global demand for crude oil and natural gas.

Passage

On December 18th, George W. Bush signed the Act into law. The Act was passed by an overwhelming 359-68 in the United States House of Representatives on July 26th and by 85-12 in the United States Senate on Nov 16th in a strong show of bipartisan support.[9][10][11]

The House version (H.R. 5682) and Senate version (S. 3709) of the bill differed due to amendments each had added before approving, but the versions were reconciled with a House vote of 330-59 on Dec 8th and a Senate voice-vote on Dec 9th before being passed on to President G.W. Bush for final approval.[12][13] The White House had urged Congress to expedite the reconciliation process during the current lame duck session, and recommended removing certain amendments which would be deemed deal-killers by India.[14] Nonetheless, while softened, several clauses restricting India's strategic nuclear program and conditions on having India align with U.S. views over Iran were incorporated with the civilian nuclear agreement.

In response to the language Congress used in the Act to define U.S. policy toward India, President Bush stated "Given the Constitution's commitment to the authority of the presidency to conduct the nation's foreign affairs, the executive branch shall construe such policy statements as advisory," going on to cite sections 103 and 104 (d) (2) of the bill. To assure Congress that its work would not be totally discarded, Bush continued by saying that the executive would give "the due weight that comity between the legislative and executive branches should require, to the extent consistent with U.S. foreign policy."[15]

Implementation

Following the passing of the Act, negotiations on implementing the cooperation through a 'Section 123 Agreement' were concluded on July 27, 2007.[16] This must next be approved by both the US Congress, and by the international Nuclear Suppliers Group of nations, which controls the export of nuclear technology.[16] Implementation willnot be that much easy as any action ahead taken will be criticised in the agreement view and which will creat argument.

Criticism

  • The BJP, the current main opposition party in the Indian parliament has asked the government not to accept the deal without a vote in the legislature. The CPI(M), an external parliamentary supporter of Manmohan Singh's governing UPA coalition, and several top nuclear scientists and institutions in India have asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to not accept the deal in its December 2006 form as it stipulates conditions that in some areas are more severe than the clauses in either the NPT or the CTBT. [17][18][19]
  • Several top Indian nuclear scientists have written an appeal to Indian parliamentarians to ensure that "decisions taken today do not inhibit India's future ability to develop and pursue nuclear technologies for the benefit of the nation". [20]
  • Many who believe in the efficacy of the non-proliferation regime feel the 123 Agreement critically undermines the regime and sends mixed signals to other would-be nuclear states. Ambassador Thomas Graham Jr., former director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) argues along these lines.[21]

See also

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References

References

  1. ^ "Embassy of India: Nuclear Pon-proliferation". Retrieved 2006-06-01.
  2. ^ "Nuclear Suppliers Group".
  3. ^ "U.S., India Reach Deal On Nuclear Cooperation". Retrieved 2006-03-03.
  4. ^ "Bush Officials Defend India Nuclear Deal". Retrieved 2005-07-20.
  5. ^ "Information and Issue Briefs - Thorium". World Nuclear Association. Retrieved 2006-06-01.
  6. ^ "UIC Nuclear Issues Briefing Paper #75 - Supply of Uranium". Uranium Information Centre. Retrieved 2006-06-01.
  7. ^ "Bush, India's Singh Sign Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement". USINFO - International Information Programs. Retrieved 2006-03-02.
  8. ^ "U.S. House votes for nuclear deal". The Hindu. Retrieved 2006-07-29.
  9. ^ "Bush Welcomes Senate Approval of U.S.-India Nuclear Agreement". USINFO - International Information Programs. Retrieved 2006-11-17.
  10. ^ "H.R. 5682: House Vote 411: Jul 26, 2006 (109th Congress)". GovTrack. Retrieved 2006-07-26. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  11. ^ "H.R. 5682: Senate Vote 270: Nov 16, 2006 (109th Congress)". GovTrack. Retrieved 2006-11-16.
  12. ^ "Congress Passes U.S.-India Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Bill". USINFO - International Information Programs. Retrieved 2006-12-09.
  13. ^ "H.R. 5682: House Vote 541: Dec 8, 2006 (109th Congress)". GovTrack. Retrieved 2006-12-08.
  14. ^ "Nuclear deal with US made easier for India to digest". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2006-11-09.
  15. ^ "Hyde Act not binding, says Bush". CNN-IBN. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
  16. ^ a b India and US confirm nuclear pact, BBC, published 2007-07-27, accessed 2007-07-31
  17. ^ "'Provision on nuclear test a matter of concern'". The Hindu. Retrieved 2006-12-10.
  18. ^ "'Reject U.S. Act on nuclear deal': BJP". The Hindu. Retrieved 2006-12-11.
  19. ^ Dr Suvrokamal Dutta. "The Indo-US Nuclear Civilian Deal: Dictate Or Deal?". INDOLink - News & Analysis.
  20. ^ "'Appeal to Indian parliamentarians on Nuclear Deal by Indian Nuclear Scientists'". The Hindu. Retrieved 2006-08-15.
  21. ^ Think Again by Thomas graham
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