7

The integrity of India’s nuclear programme: Are India’s nuclear weapons programme and the indigenous civilian programme constrained by the US?

No. Even the most paranoid elements in India will find it difficult to argue that our military and civilian nuclear programmes are compromised under the 123 Agreement. Article 2.4 affirms that the agreement “will be implemented in a manner so as not to hinder or otherwise interfere with any other activities” involving material and technology, military or civilian, acquired “independent of this agreement”.

8

Foreign policy autonomy: Is there a secret unwritten agenda in the 123 Agreement, as some Left leaders have alleged?

Not by a long shot. It is a long political tradition in India to look for secret clauses in bilateral agreements. When Prime Minister Indira Gandhi signed the Peace and Friendship Treaty with the Soviet Union in 1971, the Jan Sangh, the earlier incarnation of the BJP, insisted for years that there were secret clauses in the agreement. Now it is the turn of the CPM to argue the same about the agreement with the United States.

Further, unlike the non-binding provisions of the Hyde Act, there is no reference to Iran or other foreign policy issues in the 123 Agreement.

The principal question here is whether civilian nuclear cooperation with the US is subject to either American caprice or unilateral decision. The 123 Agreement makes it quite clear that the determination on “material breach” under the 123 Agreement will not be a unilateral US decision; it will have to be taken by the IAEA Board of Governors (Article 14.3).

... contd.