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US-INDIA: ‘123’ Nuclear Agreement Completed

Eli Clifton

WASHINGTON, Jul 27 2007 (IPS) - India and the United States have announced a bilateral agreement permitting the export of U.S. civilian nuclear technology to India in exchange for a promise that the South Asian giant will allow International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) inspectors access to its nuclear facilities.

India will build a civil nuclear enrichment facility under the condition that IAEA monitoring is in place.

‘’This marks another step in the continued progress that is deepening our strategic partnership with India, a vital world leader,’’ said U.S. President George W. Bush in a prepared statement.

‘’The United States and India have reached a historic milestone in their strategic partnership by completing negotiations on the bilateral agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation, also known as the ‘123 agreement’. This agreement will govern civil nuclear trade between our two countries and open the door for American and Indian firms to participate in each other’s civil nuclear energy sector,’’ read a joint statement by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Indian Minister of External Affairs Shri Pranab Mukherjee.

Critics of the accord have voiced concern that U.S. acceptance of India’s nuclear programme marks a major concession and undermines non-proliferation pacts which India has refused to join.

U.S. negotiators faced the challenge of circumventing U.S. law, which prohibits the export of reprocessing technology to countries that have not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, while their Indian counterparts fought an uphill battle to convince parliament that the agreement did not undermine sovereignty.

The treaty, which has not yet been released in its entirety, will contain U.S. promises to help India build a nuclear fuel repository and assist India in finding alternate sources of nuclear fuel – presumably an assurance to India that in the event of a nuclear weapons test, they will have alternative sources of nuclear fuel if the United States, in accordance with its national laws, cuts off fuel exports.

‘’This is unlikely to work on either side. I do not know how the Indian government seems to have accepted that the U.S. will convince third parties to supply them with nuclear fuel,’’ Institute for Energy and Environmental Director Dr. Arjun Makhijani told IPS. ‘’There is no practical process by which India building a bunch of nuclear reactors will be able to be independent in its foreign policy.’’

Indian negotiators have heralded this promise as a preservation of their sovereignty and a significant concession by the United States.

But U.S. officials have downplayed the concession as a simple assurance that if there is an interruption in fuel supplies due to logistical problems, the U.S. will take steps to find alternative sources.

‘’In practical terms (the agreement) is not a (U.S.) concession,’’ said Makhijani. ‘’India was already a nuclear weapons state. This is just an endorsement of its reprocessing capacity.’’

In a news briefing early Friday, Under Secretary of State R. Nicholas Burns mentioned multiple times India’s regional and global influence as a motivating factor in the United States’ willingness to enter into a nuclear agreement.

The agreement sends a message that ‘’If you behave responsibly and play by the rules you will not be penalised. You will be invited to participate (in the international system),’’ said Burns.

‘’India will be able to tap into clean nuclear power and make it more energy independent (from imports),’’ he continued.

The mention of energy dependency would presumably have been a reference to the proposed Iran-India-Pakistan natural gas pipeline which would be an obvious terrorist target while bringing India closer to Iran, both politically and economically.

The 2,600-kilometre seven-billion-dollar pipeline, billed as a “peace pipeline”, will carry around 60 million cubic metres of gas per day starting in 2011, to both India and Pakistan.

The nuclear deal will require the unanimous approval of the IAEA member countries. But Burns said the United States and some of its European allies would work to build support for India within the international association.

Both India and the U.S. have pointed to the agreement as strengthening and highlighting the strategic partnership between the two countries. However, the pact may face serious challenges when it is introduced and its full contents are disclosed.

Makhijani warned that, ‘’Both sides have made the conclusion of this agreement such a cornerstone of their economic, political and security relationship that it could cause harm if it doesn’t go through.’’