Eight of his contemporaries and successors came together in 2006 and formed what was sometimes cheekily referred to as the G-8 — a group of renowned scientists who raised the red flag against the deal and wrote to Singh cautioning him against compromising India’s nuclear security and sovereignty in exchange for American nuclear fuel and equipment.

The scientists were eventually convinced and won over by the prime minister who even went as far as agreeing to involve them in the process of negotiating crucial aspects of the deal, including the IAEA safeguards. While the scientist-politician in Ramanna may have been tempted to join this bandwagon, those who knew him closely feel the pragmatist in him would have carried the day.

In a 2001 newspaper interview, he was asked about his thoughts on India’s democracy and its leaders considering he had also been a minister of state for defence and a Rajya Sabha MP. “Both are maturing,” was his glib reply. Seven years on, as the politicians make a meal of the landmark nuclear deal,

Ramanna is probably wincing somewhere in the skies, wondering if he had spoken too soon.

yp.rajesh@expressindia.com