India Won't Sacrifice Government for Nuclear Accord, Times Says
Mar 9, 2008 (Bloomberg)
March 9 (Bloomberg) -- India's ruling Congress Party will not sacrifice the government for the civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with the U.S., the Times of India reported, citing foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee. The Congress Party and its coalition partners are not seeking early national elections, the newspaper said. India's general elections are due by May next year. The government's communist allies had warned that they will withdraw support from the ruling coalition if the government goes ahead with the nuclear accord, the report said. India has told the U.S. that it will not be possible to sign the agreement within the target date, the paper reported. The South Asian nation has been seeking cooperation with the U.S., Russia, France, the U.K. and other countries to end India's nuclear isolation and give power plants in the energy- starved nation access to fissile material.
India-IAEA Pact Close But U.S. Nuclear Deal Clouded
Mar 9, 2008 (Reuters)
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India is close to finalising the text for an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, but may fail to save a nuclear deal between New Delhi and Washington that remains clouded in political uncertainty. The nod of the IAEA is among several mandatory clearances required for the contentious India-U.S. nuclear pact that will give India access to American nuclear fuel and technology. Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said talks had concluded with the IAEA and an agreement could be reached. A source familiar with the India-IAEA talks in Vienna said a final text was close, but India still needed to confirm that there is an agreement on the text. "Until then there is in fact no agreement," the source said on Sunday. India's confirmation has been held up because the communist allies of the government oppose the nuclear deal, threatening to bring down the coalition government if it went ahead.
“Don't Nuke The Deal,” Editorial
Mar 8, 2008 (The Times of India)
The Left has sounded its war conches. It has issued threats against the government at a time when India is negotiating a nuclear safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). That's a UN body where China, too, is represented. The safeguards agreement will set the terms of India's nuclear trade with the world, not just with the US. Why, then, is the Left kicking up such a fuss? The CPM has gone hammer and tongs at the government through its organ People's Democracy, issuing threats of pulling it down. The terms of the UPA-Left coordination committee are that it should be consulted before "operationalising" the deal. Before that happens, however, India must negotiate a safeguards agreement with the IAEA and a waiver from the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Once these stages are through, the US Congress will vote on the deal. That's when the ball is back in play between India and the US and the deal might then be "operationalised". The government ought to emphasise that the UPA-Left coordination committee can come in at that stage and the Left can raise objections to the deal, if it so wishes.
No Change in BJP Stand on N-Deal: Yashwant Sinha
Mar 7, 2008 (Sify News)
New Delhi: Former External Affairs Minister and BJP leader Yashwant Sinha vehemently denied that there could be softening in the main opposition party's stand on the India-US Nuclear deal after UN senators recently called on Leader of Opposition LK Advani and other BJP leaders. “We are allowing anyone who wants to explain the advantages of the deal and tell us about it. But as we have understood this deal and the 123 Agreement, I don't think there is any scope for change in our attitude,” he told Sify.com in an interview. Sinha was outraged at former US diplomat Strobe Talbott's claim in a recent TV interview that the NDA Government had negotiated a similar deal with the US and would have been happy with half the deal Manmohan Singh got. “I am surprised by his statement because during the last two years of NDA government, he was no more the US Deputy Secretary of State. We had no discussions,” he insisted. Denying that there were differences within the BJP leaders over the party's stand on the nuclear deal, the former external affairs minister said: "All decisions regarding nuclear deal policy have been taken at the highest level.”
MTS Systems Would Pay U.S. $1 Million in Fines
Mar 7, 2008 (Star Tribune)
MTS Systems is negotiating a $1 million settlement to resolve a federal investigation into the sale of equipment several years ago that could have been used to test nuclear weapons in India. Eden Prairie-based MTS disclosed the anticipated plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice in a recent filing with federal regulators. Neither MTS, its attorney nor the Justice Department would comment Wednesday. In 2003, the Star Tribune reported that a grand jury heard testimony from an employee responsible for the company's compliance with federal export laws governing the sale of test equipment…Under the proposed deal, which would be reviewed by a federal judge, MTS would plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges, pay a $400,000 fine, sponsor an export compliance symposium, and improve its export-management and compliance controls.
US Says Pressure on US-India Nuclear Deal a Reflection of US Legislative Calendar
Mar 7, 2008 (PR Inside)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States is saying that pressure on India to finish a landmark nuclear energy deal by the end of May is a reflection of the U.S. legislative calendar. State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters Thursday that the agreement must be done quickly if current U.S. lawmakers are to consider and approve it this year. U.S. presidential elections loom in November and a new administration could have different legislative priorities than the Bush administration. But Casey says the U.S. is not imposing a new mandate. A top U.S. official told reporters in New Delhi on Wednesday that time is running out. The U.S. pressure comes as India's prime minister says he is still trying to overcome fierce domestic opposition to the pact.
India/US: Now or Never For Nuclear Deal
Mar 7, 2008 (IPS News)
NEW DELHI, Mar 6 (IPS) - Is the Indian government heading for a showdown with the domestic opposition on the controversial issue of the nuclear cooperation deal with the United States before the presidential election timetable closes that opportunity? Going by the recent pronouncements of U.S. officials urging a May deadline to complete the deal, by statements by leaders of India’s ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, and by the Left parties’ latest reactions to them, that would indeed seem to be the case. As the government seemingly ups the ante, the Left is reportedly considering issuing it an end-March ultimatum to decide on the deal, or face withdrawal of its crucial support, which would put the ruling coalition into a parliamentary minority. The general secretary of the Communist Party of India -Marxist (CPI-M), the Left’s leading party, has written a letter to Mukherjee demanding a meeting of the special joint committee of the UPA and the Left on the deal by Mar.15.
India Soft - Pedals on Nuclear Deal as Left Adamant
Mar 7, 2008 (The New York Times)
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's coalition government has virtually ruled out signing a controversial nuclear deal with the United States without the support of its communist allies, sparking fresh uncertainty about the fate of the pact. The communists oppose what they see as a strategic alliance with the U.S., and have threatened to withdraw vital support from the ruling coalition if it moves ahead with the deal. A voter-friendly budget presented last month fed talk that the Congress party-led government was preparing to dump its leftist allies, sign the deal and face early elections. But Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee has rejected such a possibility, saying it would not be possible to sign a major international deal as a minority government, if the left pulled out. "A minority government cannot, need not and should not sign a major agreement like this," Mukherjee told the Outlook magazine, adding even Washington would not agree to it.
State Department Gives India a Deadline for a Nuclear Pact
Mar 6, 2008 (The New York Times)
NEW DELHI — A senior State Department official on Wednesday gave India a three-month deadline to complete negotiations on a landmark nuclear energy deal so that Congress could vote on the issue before its summer recess. Speaking to reporters here, the official, Richard A. Boucher, an assistant secretary of state, said India would have to complete the agreement by the “end of May” so the Bush administration could present it to Congress by June. “We are kind of playing in overtime,” he said. “There’s a lot of work, not a lot of time.” The Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, declined to set a deadline for the politically contentious deal, but in an unusual swipe at his opponents, made it plain on Wednesday that his fragile coalition government was mustering the political courage to push through the agreement with the United States and readying itself for the inevitable consequence: early elections.
Iran Confident of India Joining Gas Pipeline
Mar 6, 2008 (The Business Standard)
Iran says it is confident that the proposed “peace pipeline” project to transfer natural gas from the rich Iranian fields to Pakistan and India will be constructed once the negotiations between New Delhi and Islamabad are concluded. “We are waiting for the talks between Pakistan and India to conclude and then the implementation of the project will be finalised,” Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told Business Standard yesterday. “The implementation of the project will not be affected by current developments in Afghanistan and we are in regular contact with our friends in India,” he said. The Bush administration had reportedly resorted to arm-twisting the governments in South Asia to abandon the project with Iran once and for all. But Pakistan turned a deaf ear to the US’ protests. The Iranian minister also maintained Tehran was actively considering supporting India on the safeguards agreement between New Delhi and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
U.S. Should Release India Nuke Deal Answers: Experts
Mar 5, 2008 (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four U.S. nonproliferation experts on Wednesday called on the Bush administration to make public comments about the U.S.-India civil nuclear deal that it gave to U.S. lawmakers on condition they be kept secret. The State Department responded to congressional questions about the deal and, after initially discussing classifying the answers, gave them to a small group of lawmakers on condition they not be released, sources familiar with the matter said. Critics of the deal, which would give India access to U.S. nuclear fuel and equipment for the first time in three decades even though New Delhi has tested nuclear weapons and refused to join nonproliferation agreements, demanded the State Department drop what they called "a virtual 'gag' order." The four nonproliferation experts -- Daryl Kimball, Fred McGoldrick, Henry Sokolski and Sharon Squassoni -- made their appeal in a statement released on Wednesday. "The administration's responses should be made publicly available so that U.S. and Indian lawmakers and the public can evaluate whether the draft U.S.-Indian accord conforms to the terms and conditions established by Congress," wrote Kimball.
Missile Defense: A Wrong Turn for U.S.-India Cooperation?
Mar 5, 2008 (Center for Defense Information)
Emerging from meetings in New Delhi on Feb. 27, 2008 that entertained a bonanza sale of American military equipment to India, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates offered an additional juicy tidbit: the prospect of significant missile defense cooperation between the United States and India. He stated that the United States and India are now in the “early stages of discussion and joint analysis” on the endeavor. For all of the legitimate concerns about missile defense’s political provocativeness, for example in U.S.-Russia relations over proposed missile defense sites in Europe, current platforms have so far had a limited impact on the strategic stability of nuclear forces globally. Deployed systems are nowhere near elaborate or effective enough to threaten Russia's or China's ability to launch devastating nuclear strikes, and most scenarios for their application against attacks from Iran or North Korea are rather implausible.
The Hyde Act — Misreading or Misleading?
Mar 5, 2008 (The Hindu Business Line)
It may be a good idea for the Government to obtain an authentic interpretation of the questionable provisions of the Hyde Act from the Supreme Court, or an independent legal consultancy firm in countries such as the UK or Canada whose system of jurisprudence is similar to India’s. The Government is fully entitled to hold the view that its agreement with the US for full civil nuclear energy co-operation (commonly known as the 123 Agreement as it is pursuant to Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act of 1954) is essential to ensuring energy security and, therefore, in the nation’s interest. It is free to seek to mobilise support for the deal by adopting all means of persuasion available to it in a democracy, both within and outside Parliament. But when it steps out of these legitimate bounds and resorts to specious pleas in order to browbeat opposition, it is time to cry halt and alert public opinion.
India PM Says Seeking Broad Support on Nuclear Deal
Mar 5, 2008 (The Washington Post)
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's prime minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday his government was seeking the "broadest possible consensus" on a contentious nuclear deal with the United States, a pact opposed by his leftist allies. Indian communists, who provide vital support to Singh's ruling alliance, say they will pull down the government if it tries to push through the deal, which will give India access to U.S. nuclear fuel and technology. Washington has warned the deal might fall through if not concluded by July.
US Warning on India Nuclear Deal
Mar 5, 2008 (BBC News)
The US secretary of state for South Asia has again urged India speedily to complete all the steps required to conclude a civilian nuclear deal. Richard Boucher warned that "time is tight" if the deal is to be signed off by the American Congress before presidential polls in November. Objections from the Indian government's communist allies have delayed the deal. Under the terms of the controversial deal, India would get access to US civilian nuclear technology and fuel. In return, Delhi would open its civilian nuclear facilities to inspection - its nuclear weapons sites would remain off-limits. The deal has been vigorously resisted by India's communist parties, who argue that it would give the US undue influence over India's foreign and nuclear policy. "I am certainly aware that things fall apart... but on the other hand, my job is to make things work. What I am focused on right now is how to make things succeed. We both want this to happen," said Mr Boucher, who is on a two day visit to India. "We are kind of playing in overtime right now," he said. Mr Boucher is the latest in a string of American visitors to Delhi who have urged India over the last month to go ahead with the deal.
India Must Quickly Finalize Nuclear Deal
Mar 5, 2008 (The New York Times)
NEW DELHI, India (AP) -- India must work fast to finalize its landmark nuclear energy deal with the United States, a top American diplomat warned Wednesday as India's prime minister said he was trying to overcome fierce domestic opposition to the pact. ''We're kind of playing in overtime right now. There's a lot of work, not a lot of time,'' Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher told reporters in New Delhi. With American elections coming up -- and no guarantee the next U.S. administration will keep the deal on the table -- Boucher said Wednesday that India needed to complete final steps by May to give the Congress time to debate and approve the nuclear pact. Touted as the foundation of a new partnership between New Delhi and Washington, the deal would reverse three decades of American anti-proliferation policy by allowing the United States to send nuclear fuel and technology to India, even though the country has refused to sign nonproliferation treaties and tested of nuclear weapons.
Seal The Deal
Mar 4, 2008 (The Times of India)
External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee's statement in Parliament on Monday is a match report on the negotiations between the government and the IAEA as well as a clarification of the government's view of the nuclear deal for the benefit of its allies and the Opposition. He stressed three points. One, talks on an India-specific safeguards agreement with the IAEA are about to be concluded and a happy conclusion would enable the Nuclear Suppliers Group to amend its guidelines and facilitate nuclear trade among member countries and New Delhi. Two, Indo-US civil nuclear commerce will be guided by the bilateral agreement, not by the Hyde Act. Three, the government will try to achieve a broad political consensus on the issue. Mukherjee's statement has come in the wake of a lot of chatter that the Indo-US nuclear deal is as good as dead. That is because there is no sign yet of the consensus that the government is seeking on the issue. The BJP sees the nuclear deal as a poli-tical issue to confront the UPA government and nothing else. The Left is blinded by a dead ideology and sees a red herring in improved relations with the US out of fear of imperialism'.
'We Can Live Without Nuclear Power,'
Mar 4, 2008 (Rediff News)
The United States-India agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation has become the bone of contention between the Congress, which heads the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition, and the Bharatiya Janata Party, the main Opposition party in Parliament. The BJP has opposed the deal, to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's acute embarrassment. Political circles believe that if the BJP withdraws its opposition, the deal can be pushed through. Despite extraordinary pressure from the US, the BJP has refused to budge. Yashwant Sinha, who has held the finance and external affairs portfolios in the previous BJP-led government, has been at the forefront of the debate. He spoke to rediff.com Managing Editor Sheela Bhatt. In view of the visit by Senators John Kerry, Joseph Biden and Chuck Hagel to New Delhi, is US pressure building to seal the deal?The government, especially the Prime Minister's Office, tries to give the impression that they are serious about pushing the deal forward. Maybe they are, but people within the Congress have said on record that if the deal is not acceptable to the majority of the people and political parties of the country, then there is no reason to go ahead.
Lost N-Deal Opportunity Would Be a Shame: US
Mar 4, 2008 (Sify News)
Washington: The US has reiterated its desire to see the "important and historic" India-US nuclear deal concluded as quickly as possible, saying it would be a shame if this opportunity was lost for any reason. Washington acknowledged "there are internal political issues for the Indian government to work out, and it's important that they have an opportunity to do so," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said Monday, referring to the Indian Left's opposition that has stalled the deal. On the other hand, members of US Congress had pointed out difficulties of getting such an agreement through the legislature as the US enters its own election cycle, he said in response to a question about the recent flurry of activity on the issue. "I'll let them handicap that aspect of the process. They know that far better than I do," Casey said. "But we do believe this is an important agreement, a historic agreement really, between India and the United States, and we would like to see it move forward." Reiterating the US desire to "to see this agreement concluded", the spokesman said: "We think it's in the best interests of India, the United States as well as in global non-proliferation effort."
Boucher to Review U.S.-India Nuclear Deal
Mar 3, 2008 (United Press International)
NEW DELHI, March 3 (UPI) -- U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher will review the status of the U.S.-India civil nuclear deal on his India visit, a report said Sunday. Boucher's two-day trip to India starting Tuesday comes as India has ended its latest round of talks on a safeguard agreement with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Press Trust of India reported. Implementation of the civil nuclear deal, however, remains stalled because of opposition from the Left parties in India's ruling coalition. Some U.S. lawmakers also oppose the agreement. Boucher is in charge of South Asia in the U.S. State Department. India must get the safeguard agreement with the IAEA before the deal can become operational. The PTI report said both the IAEA and India reportedly made "considerable progress" in the latest talks. Boucher would review the progress at those talks. India also must get a waiver from the 47-member Nuclear Suppliers Group allowing it to have civil nuclear cooperation with the international community.
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