The adjournment of the NSG special meeting, which had been called to consider a waiver for India from its stringent export control rules governing international nuclear trade, has caused some gloating among opponents of the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement, both among the non-proliferation ayatollahs in the US and opposition parties at home. Such rejoicing may, however, be somewhat premature. Change faces resistance, and the greater the magnitude of the change, the greater the opposition. That the agreement constitutes a major shift is proved by the degree of resistance to it, if nothing else.

The agreement presages major movement not only in Indo-US relations. The global regime of non-proliferation mechanisms is also being asked to adapt itself to new realities and a changing distribution of power. It has over the years faced internal challenges; states-parties to the NPT have not only accepted and condoned some proliferators within their ranks, but have been questioning the very validity of the structure’s basis. Part of the problem has arisen because of the regime’s inflexibility. The Indo-US agreement introduces, into this rigid framework of sterile debate and unchanging positions, the need for an updating of the approach to the real dangers of proliferation, an opportunity for the NPT to strengthen itself. The opposition to the draft waiver presented to the NSG was bound to create a storm, especially among countries which, while they have no nuclear industry of their own — or at any rate none of any significance — are yet members of the group and hold feverishly to the letter of a treaty negotiated 40 years ago.

... contd.