Touches on that Indian political parties are divided on this issue.
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Ballistic for votes
Kalyani Shankar
Political parties in the country are divided on the proposed India-US civil nuclear deal because anti-Americanism is still a potential vote-getter
Who could think 30 years ago that the US would one day offer a civil nuclear cooperation deal to India ending its long nuclear apartheid? Even after the 1998 Pokhran blasts, then US President Bill Clinton was furious that India went for nuclear test, provoking Pakistan to do the same. However, within a few years, the relationship between the two countries improved, resulting in the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement.
President George Bush has already signed this week what is called the Henry J Hyde United States Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act, 2006 (PAEC). Now the US will prepare the 123 agreement, to be signed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The debate in India is whether the sting in the Act will be taken out in the 123 agreement. Although President Bush has addressed some of the major concerns after signing the Bill, there are apprehensions in New Delhi about the shifting of goal posts from the July 18 agreement between Mr Singh and Mr Bush.
The three major concerns are fuel supply, fuel processing and nuclear testing option. The critics fear that the ultimate aim of the US is to cap and freeze India's nuclear programme. As expected, the UPA Government has put up a brave face and hopes that the final agreement would have no objectionable language.
The Prime Minister has assured Parliament that he will not sign any deal compromising India's national interests.
What is the Indo-US nuclear deal; and, why is it provoking such sharp reactions? The Bill, which President Bush signed on December 17, was the culmination of the 18-month-old process to get the US Congress nod to provide civil nuclear cooperation to India, ending its nuclear apartheid of more than three decades.
The nuclear deal has come into being after a lot of pressure from the Bush Administration as well as influential NRI community on the US Congress. The Act, in its present form, has created some serious concerns not only to the Opposition in India but also the Union Government, which had been conveyed to the Bush Administration. Mr Bush, too, has shown accommodation and sent proper signals to allay our apprehensions.
However, the debate in Parliament has exposed the sharp polarisation in the political and scientific community. Many senior scientists have expressed concern about the PAEC Act. Why is there so much opposition to the Bill? There could be three broad reasons. While the Left parties are opposing it as a foreign policy issue and have always held an anti-US line, the scientific community is opposing it from an indigenous research angle.
The BJP is opposing it on technical grounds as it wants to play an effective Opposition.
Why are the political parties divided? Is the Uttar Pradesh election in March one of the reasons? During the NDA regime, the BJP was wooing the US and as Prime Minister said in Parliament, then Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh was even negotiating with the Clinton Administration on CTBT.
The BJP knows that as a talking point for the common man, surrendering the country's sovereignty to the US would jell better than any other issue. The BJP has high stakes in the Assembly polls. Even though the Congress is irrelevant in UP, the BJP wants to make it an issue.
The JD(U), which is part of the NDA, is also quite vocal in its opposition to the nuclear deal. Mr Digvijay Singh is leading the attack for his party both within Parliament as well as outside. The party is also eying the UP elections, although, it does not have much stake.
Then, take the case of the Samajwadi Party, which is supporting the UPA from outside. It is opposing the deal for different reasons. The SP has high stakes in the Assembly polls and Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav wants to retain his Muslim vote base. Anti-US stand will probably help him.
Opposing the Congress as well as the US will be a good strategy for the SP. Moreover, Mr Yadav has good relations with the Left; he depends on the CPI(M) support to prevent imposition of President's rule in UP, which the Congress, the BJP and the BSP have been demanding.
Most political parties, except the ADMK and TDP, from the south are quiet on this issue. Ms J Jayalalithaa wants to send a signal to her constituency that the DMK, a partner in the UPA, is not doing the right thing. Second, she is cozying up to Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and other parties, which may form a Third front in future.
Ms Jayalalithaa has been quite active even after her defeat and has expressed her opinion on every issue. Nuclear deal is another issue to beat the DMK in the State and the Congress at the Centre. The TDP has left the NDA and is trying to get into the Third Front whenever it is formed. Also, at the State level, it will be a stick to beat the Congress with and also mobilise support of Muslims in TDP's favour.
It is difficult to predict how many people understand what a nuclear reactor, spent fuel and such other words connected with the nuclear programme mean. It is not clear how many political parties have studied the PAEC Act or its clauses in detail.
For the common man, these mean nothing; they have other more pressing issues. There is need to educate the public about the nuclear deal.
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