Nuclear Deal

Buddha smiled and so did the 7th largest Nation of the world on May 18, 1974. It was on this momentous day that the first confirmed nuclear test by a nation outside the permanent five members of the United Nations Security Council was conducted by India. The reaction of the world to India’s nuclear test was the formation of the Nuclear Suppliers Group also known as the London Club. The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is a group of nuclear supplier countries which seeks to contribute to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons through the implementation of Guidelines for nuclear exports and nuclear related exports. The NSG Guidelines are implemented by each Participating Government in accordance with its national laws and practices. Decisions on export applications are taken at the national level in accordance with national export licensing.

In 1992, the NSG decided to establish Guidelines for transfers of nuclear-related dual-use equipment, material and technology (items which have both nuclear and non-nuclear applications) which could make a significant contribution to an unsafeguarded nuclear fuel cycle or nuclear explosive activity. The 439 nuclear reactors operating in 30 countries provide 15 % of the world’s total electricity. Nuclear expansion is centred in Asia where 18 of the 32 reactors now being built are located. It is in this context that the state of India which is already fighting against the energy deficit wanted to wrap up the nuclear deal with USA.Most of the Nuclear Plants in India are operating at around 54 % efficiency.

India doesn’t have large stocks of Uranium which it can use as nuclear fuel. It was in order to satisfy this primary need of electrification that the government decided to go in for Nuclear deal with USA. The Indo-U.S. civilian nuclear agreement is the bilateral agreement on nuclear cooperation between the United States of America and India under which India agreed to separate its civil and military nuclear facilities and place civil facilities under IAEA safeguards and, in exchange, the United States agreed to work towards full civil nuclear cooperation with India. The most important aspect of this deal is that India doesn’t need to sign the NPT and can still get the nuclear fuel and technology for Civilian purpose. This deal is also known as 123 Agreement. The 123 Agreement between the US and India was operationalized on Oct 10, 2008.

The implementation of this waiver makes India the only known country with nuclear weapons which is not a party to the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) but is still allowed to carry out nuclear commerce with the rest of the world. The Hyde Act is the domestic US law which is binding on the United States. The Hyde Act cannot be binding on India's sovereign decisions although it can be construed as a guideline for future U.S. reactions. No domestic law can supersede any international agreement as per the guidelines of Vienna convention. This should actually silence the critics of the nuclear deal.The fact that India has announced the nuclear moratorium should not matter much as it has been India’s adopted line of approach since long ago. It doesn’t take away India’s right to test though it does not stop any NSG country from reacting.

After the waiver from the NSG, the next step is getting into bilateral agreements with different NSG countries for fuel supply and Reactor technology. India has done so with the US. Similarly India has clinched the bilateral agreements with France and Russia as of now.

In my opinion, nuclear deal is the demand of time and we should try to utilize this opportunity to address our energy concerns apart from the strategic closeness with US. Being home to 25% of world reserves of thorium, the government should invest more in R&D and try to gain the technology to process thorium as a nuclear fuel. The govt should also look at our alternate opportunities like Helium 3 as fuel which is readily available on moon. The govt. has to come up with Liability Act so that the companies know what to expect in case of any mistakes or wrongdoings. For all its strategic, economic, environmental and energy considerations, it is a deal in India’s favour where India stands to gain a lot. Indian Govt. stands to gain in recognition as Nuclear Power ,Business stands to gain in terms of building new Nuclear Plants along with foreign companies involving technology transfer and society benefits to gain by number of jobs and electricity for masses and industries.

Opinion Makers and Decision Enablers

Opinions showcase me to the world for they mirror my personality. It is the culmination of the thought process based on certain information, assumption and beliefs. It is these opinions when taken in totality and practice decide my destiny. A perfect opinion based on right facts, right assumptions and unbiased approach is what distinguishes a winner from a loser. It is the opinions that decide the future of an entity and you base your opinion on the opinions of some people who are the subject masters. Who are these people? It is these people who are known as opinion makers or decision enablers. It is solely this reason that makes these opinion makers so important to the growth and progress of an entity, a nation. And it is solely for this reason that I am surprised and dismayed at the role of so called Opinion makers in the current Nuclear Deal Imbroglio.
A battle which had to be fought between the intelligentsia of our Nation was fought between 543 Lawmakers (rather say lawbreakers) most of whom didn’t have an iota of an idea about the nuclear deal. A battle which had to be fought among the clerisy for the welfare of the nation was fought for the personal ambitions, personal egos and Personal space in the electoral arena.A discussion that ought to focus on Nuclear Deal focused on the everything except nuclear Deal. Who is to be blamed for the current mess? What happens when an lawmaker opposes a deal because he cannot understand the deal (It is a different matter that the lawmaker is out of jail just to exercise his right to vote in the Indian parliament ).What happens when a lawmaker decides to abide by the decision of elders in his party ? It is a different matter that the law maker doesn’t have any idea about the deal and is more interested in his second innings in Indian Cinema. What happens when a lawmaker says that she doesn’t have any idea about nuclear deal but will whole heartedly support the deal?(It is a different matter that the lawmaker is the youngest lawmaker in parliament and is our future hope).What happens when a Lawmaker (PM in waiting) says that our first PM was against the NPT? It is a different matter that the concept of NPT came in 1970 and the premier PM had died in 1964.What happens when the lawmakers from a particular party strongly disagree with another lawmaker and make him revert from using some objectionable words? It is a different matter that the opposition rather than to the policy is to the suffix ‘wati’ that is also a postfix to their Party president’s name.
In spite of all this, all the lawmakers will get away with it .No one will be penalized for the fact that they wasted the taxpayers money. Nobody will be penalized because they didn’t discuss the issue. No lawmaker or political party will be penalized for taking wrong sides because the public in general still doesn’t know what the deal means and how is it going to effect every strata of society. It is the media that is shirking its responsibility as a medium of knowledge. It is more interested in letting us know who scored some brownie points over its opponent. Rather than getting us the information on the topics like nuclear deal, it will show us what happened in Kyunki Saas Bhi kabhi Bahu thi.Rather than getting us a discussion between the intelligentsia, it is more keen in showing us a boy being dug out from the well. It is more keen in playing with the emotion of the masses and capitalize on that rather than empowering us with the weapon of knowledge and then capitalize on its good work. It is the clerisy that has to be blamed for they robbed us of a chance to know who is working for our welfare, for the welfare of our nation rather than the welfare of an individual or welfare of a particular political party. What amazes me more is that our former President (subject Guru) who is popularly known as People’s President doesn’t take a determined and vocal stand.
If India has to progress, it is these people who need to come out of the closet and give us a piece of their mind and educate us and arm us with the information so that we can give power to their thoughts with that single important weapon in our armory known an Right to vote .