By raising ontological issues and going back to first principles at this stage, the Left and the BJP (whose latest position has been again clarified by L.K. Advani) run the risk of jeopardising the deal and hence national interest. This begs the deeper question, that the core issue: what is Indian national interest? Can it be defined only by the intransigent position taken by the Left and ironically echoed by the BJP — an inflexible anti-Americanism? It is nobody’s case that India’s strategic interests are congruent with those of the US. They never can be, since the elephant and the eagle have inherently different DNAs and world views. But a broad correspondence in the 21st century? Most certainly yes. And as regards India getting sucked into the US strategic embrace over its many ill-advised military initiatives, it merits recall that the mild-mannered prime minister, Manmohan Singh, had no hesitation in telling the US Congress that the Bush policy in Iraq was a mistake.

The criticality of the nuclear deal is that it must be voted by the current US Congress before the 2008 election fever grips that body. It would be in India’s interest to have the 123 up-down vote before that. In the mean time, India’s political worthies must be encouraged to debate the issue and have their anxieties assuaged. But the right lessons must be drawn by the Left from Panmunjeom and Warsaw.

The writer is a strategic analyst