Already, James Steinberg, dean of Texas University at Austin and widely tipped to be the foreign policy wonk in case Hillary Clinton comes to the White House, has indicated that a Democrat administration would seek ratification of the CTBT. In an article in Foreign Affairs, Hillary Clinton wrote: “I will also seek Senate approval of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty by 2009, the tenth anniversary of the Senate’s initial rejection of the agreement. This would enhance the United States’ credibility when demanding that other nations refrain from testing.”

Simply put, even if it came to power, the BJP or NDA would not have a George Bush administration for ever waiting for renegotiation on the deal. What happens if a Democrat administration is sworn in in January 2009? Lest the BJP should forget, during the Bill Clinton administration, there were five benchmarks of the unfinished Strobe Talbott-Jaswant Singh dialogue: CTBT, FMCT, export controls (adherence to NSG and MTCR guidelines without any quid pro quos), strategic restraint (pertaining to missile development and deployment) and India-Pakistan dialogue on Kashmir. It should also not forget that President Clinton had, during his famous nine-day visit to China in June-July 1998, sought to make common cause with China on dealing with the nuclear issue in South Asia, thereby mocking our claim at that time on the reason for the tests.

Now the BJP, like the Congress, has its own bunch of armchair strategists. Talk to Murli Manohar Joshi on the nuclear deal and he will argue that there is no need to take uranium from the Americans, as vast reserves are available in Central Asia. Tell him that NSG guidelines prohibit such nuclear commerce and the veteran physicist will suggest you ways of circumventing it. While there are some within the BJP who even believe that India could get uranium from other A.Q. Khans in the world, others in the party are still bogged down in the tedious clauses of the 123 Agreement or the Hyde Act.

... contd.