After the completion of the nuclear negotiations with the US, the UPA government’s attention now turns to China’s opposition to three decades of global nuclear blockade against India. As New Delhi prepares for the next steps in implementing the nuclear deal — the drafting of an India-specific safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the endorsement of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, Beijing will loom large over India’s diplomacy.

The 35 member board of governors of the IAEA, which must approve the special safeguards agreement with India and the 45-nation NSG, which must support the Indo-US nuclear deal, usually arrive at decisions on the basis of a consensus. China, a member of both bodies, will have a say in letting the international community resume civilian nuclear cooperation with India.

The indications from Beijing are not auspicious. China is the only nuclear weapon power that has expressed reservations against the Indo-US nuclear deal. While Russia and France have been enthusiastic about the Indian nuclear market, and Britain has taken a political decision in favour of New Delhi, Beijing has grumbled. China’s main argument is that it is fundamentally wrong to change the global non-proliferation regime for the sake of one country. Any change in the rules, Beijing argues, must be based on universal criteria.

Parity for Pakistan

China’s emphasis on “principled criteria” for any changes in the global non-proliferation regime will be seen by New Delhi as a barely disguised attempt to get Pakistan the same benefits that India is about to gain from the nuclear agreement with the US. While the US has unambiguously rejected pleas from Pakistan for a nuclear deal, some gullible Europeans appear to have bought Beijing’s line on “universal criteria”. Meanwhile, China has completed negotiations with Pakistan to supply additional nuclear reactors. That agreement will have no international legitimacy until the US and the NSG offer a nuclear exception of the kind that is being processed for India.

... contd.