We need to step back a little and make a analysis of our “core” national interests. I personally believe we have everything to gain from the Indo-US agreement and the Nuclear Suppliers Group waiver has taken us a step forward in the right direction.
The first advantage is the recognition by the world community of India’s unique and distinctive nuclear status outside the NPT. Despite the fact that we have not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the world now recognises India as a state with nuclear weapons.
This is an important politico-diplomatic advantage for India. After getting the safety protocol signed and approved with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the waiver from the 45-member NSG, India has a distinctive advantage.
At the end of the day India will retain its nuclear weapons programme which will not be open to intrusive inspection as well as a civilian nuke programme to generate electricity to power our development efforts. The power plants for producing electricity fed by fuel we can purchase in the world market which will be under safeguards. This will free our domestic resources for research and development.
India will now have three distinct nuclear categories. Apart from nuclear power, there will be the existing research and development projects with the experimental fast breeder reactors and then the weapons programme, the last two will be independent of outside inspection.
Yes, we have to do a cost-benefit analysis between getting all these advantages and an unfettered right to test. My view is that the benefits far outweigh the costs. We can test, that is India’s sovereign right. When we do so there will be repercussions, and mind you India does not need to test again, if it does it will only be done when there is a grave threat to national security that makes an atomic test necessary.
If other countries test in our neighbourhood we can exercise the right to do the same. This exigency has been catered for in the agreements.
As of now on balance India has little to lose and a lot to gain from the nuclear deal. We have been given to understand it is a clean and unconditional waiver but we should await the release of the text of the final NSG document to read the fine print.
—As told to Seema Guha
Source
NAIndia
