Originally published on the CGS blog on October 9, 2008.
For the first time since its creation in 1974, the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) granted India a waiver , thereby allowing this nuclear country to trade in technology with supplier states like the U.S., France and Russia. Ironically, the NSG, which has a membership of 48 countries, was started up in direct response to the nuclear tests carried out by the Indian government in 1974, and remains as a body to regulate and prevent the development of nuclear weaponry. The NSG was the last hurdle the American and Indian governments had to overcome before their Civilian Nuclear deal could be passed. On October 8, 2008, after over three years of negotiations and lobbying by government and independent agencies, the US-India Civilian Nuclear Agreement was signed into law.
Some argue that this deal will help other states keep tabs on India’s nuclear developments. Since the country refused to sign the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1968, it has been forced to develop its own capabilities using independent resources, and without any sort of tabulation by international bodies. By opening the way for bilateral trade between the U.S. and India, the former is able to maintain checks on Indian nuclear arsenals. The passage of this deal, however, proved to be no easy feat. In India, the Communist Party in the south represented the largest and most vocal opposition to the agreement. Amongst their concerns was the fear that while the US would gain unrestricted access to Indian nuclear sites, the Indian government would be highly restricted in their endeavors on American soil. They threatened the withdrawal of their support in government, which would have led to the crumbling of an already shaky coalition government under the Congress Party.
Despite such strong opposition to the deal in India, the slow progress made in the U.S. over the past few years and the determination of both countries’ leaders resulted in the agreement being signed and passed into law. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has since brokered a deal with France over nuclear resources, and is expected to negotiate with Russia soon. For India, this deal is a significant step towards increasing its legitimacy in the international arena. While India is not too far behind China in weaponry capabilities, the country’s legitimacy has been drastically less favorable given its non-compliance with the NPT. The waiver granted by the NSG essentially grants India this legitimacy without the required signature to the NPT.
This deal also opens up the forum for more extensive exchanges between these two countries, exchanges that will range from the economy to the military to social services. India’s traditional rivals, Pakistan and China, however, do not share the same sentiment. Both are nuclear countries, and have been apprehensive of the growing closeness between America and India. While Washington mounts the pressure on Pakistan to cooperate more fully with the fight against Al Qaeda, this deal represents a strategic move by the U.S. to find a reliable and capable ally in the region. As it is, the Pakistani government has expressed concerns over Afghanistan’s increasingly close ties with India, and this deal will merely reinforce Pakistan’s concerns over encirclement by hostile countries. With regards to China, it is believed that America will use India as its ally in brokering trade deals with China and to maintain a leveled standoff against Russia.
While it remains crucial to the deal that India does not launch any more nuclear tests, this deal does not work towards the NPT’s goal of removing all nuclear weaponry. In the face of growing international uncertainty over security, the world needs more transparent deals that aim at removing nuclear weapons as an option in war.
