Two days before US President Bush’s visit, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh delineated the principles guiding the nuclear separation plan India has offered the US. While India plans to list nuclear reactors generating 65 per cent of atomic power as civilian, the PM has stated that India cannot accept safeguards on its indigenous fast breeder programme.
The Bush administration wants a credible separation plan from India that will be acceptable to the US Congress as well as the international community, both of whom must agree to change the nuclear rules in India’s favour. The intense, often frustrating, negotiations between India and the US have made considerable progress — including in the number of reactors India would place on the civilian list and under global safeguards as well as the phasing of the safeguards. In the last few days, the US has apparently made major concessions on India’s prototype fast breeder reactor and is willing to let India keep a significant number of reactors outside safeguards. If the Bush administration accepts the plan offered by Manmohan Singh, the stage will be set for a successful visit by President Bush and the rapid implementation of the July nuclear pact.
Even after the two governments agree on a separation plan, it would need to be defended against criticism in both countries — from the non-proliferation lobby in the US and the extremists in India who over-determine national security considerations. It would be a pity if the two leaders now let the path-breaking nuclear pact collapse over minor technical disputes on the number of Indian reactors to be placed under safeguards. For Manmohan and Bush the nuclear pact was not an end in itself. It was about the need to build a strong Indo-US strategic partnership at a time when there is a profound power shift occurring in the world. To be sure, non-proliferation is an important goal for the US; and so are national security concerns for India. If they let a sectoral definition of these interests prevail over the urgency of crafting a pragmatic compromise on the nuclear separation, the political consequences could go beyond a mere failure of the Bush visit. Neither the US nor India can risk failure at this moment.
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