Yogesh Joshi, Research Intern, IPCS,
Vidisha Shukla, Research Scholar, JNU, New Delhi and
Sitakanta Mishra, Research Fellow, CAPS, New Delhi
Report of the Discussion of the book Indo-US Nuclear Deal: Seeking Synergy in Bilateralism edited by Mr PR Chari, Research Professor, IPCS
Chair
Amb. Salman Haidar, former Foreign Secretary and member of IPCS Executive Committee
Panelists
Amb. Arundhati Ghose, Former Permanent Representative of India to the UN Conference on Disarmament
Mr. Siddharth Varadarajan, Strategic Affairs Editor, The Hindu
Prof. Rajesh Rajagopalan, Professor, School of International Studies, JNU
Amb. Arundhati Ghose
Coming out with a book on the Indo-US nuclear deal even before the dust on the deal has settled is a praiseworthy effort. This has probably however, also been a problem because the events and circumstances are changing.
There are many interesting questions raised in these essays, like problems of the electronic media, which is very interesting. There are some gaps in the information and therefore the government needs to brief in a more intense way. And also on the part of the media they need to do much more research work. The print media did much better than the electronic media; this entire debate on the nuclear deal was well explained by the print media.
There are two points to make: the deal itself and the politics involved, which need not necessarily have much to do with the substance of the deal. In 1971 our relations with the US was so strained it sent the USS Enterprise into the Bay of Bengal to intimidate us. India did conduct a nuclear test in 1974 and called it a PNE (peaceful nuclear explosion) but the world community did not accept it and imposed punitive sanctions on India. Since then India has been questioning the legality and effectiveness of the denial regime in every available forum, which has gradually become very tight. So Indo-US relations were tense and in a bad shape. There are many instances when this denial regime impacted badly on India. There is a need for research on what was the effect of the technology denial regime on India?
Sidharth Varadarajan
There are five broad areas of concern as regards the book. First, the volume is purely Indian in the sense that all the authors’ arguments point to the pros and cons of the deal purely from an Indian perspective. However, the chapter “Implications of the Indo-US Nuclear Deal” by Prof. R Rajaraman is balanced, and rightly dispels the hypes, misgivings and euphoria on the deal. While assessing the negative impacts of the deal on India’s strategic programme, the chapter also lucidly highlights the benefits that the deal extends to India.
Second, though the chapter by Amb Lalit Mansingh (“The Indo-US Nuclear Deal in the Context of Indian Foreign Policy”) touches upon the foreign policy dimension of the deal, more space and attention could have been devoted to the visible impact of the deal on the conduct of Indian foreign policy. To what extent has India compromised its sovereignty as generally apprehended.
Third, while the deal has opened up the civil nuclear market for India, a thorough introspection is warranted regarding its strategic aspects. It is surprising that some argue that the civilian deal has crippled India’s strategic programme.
Prof. Rajesh Rajagopalan
The nuclear deal has been an issue of enormous importance and very little time has passed since the deal was finalized. The book edited by Mr PR Chari is a very good narrative from the vantage point of the short time in which IPCS has come out with this comprehensive review of the nuclear deal, encompassing all the major debates surrounding the issue. There is a lot to say about the book and the ‘deal’ but it will be advantageous to focus on some finer points of the negotiations involved in the course of the ‘deal,’ with a reference to those chapters which engage with the negotiation process of the nuclear agreement.
If one looks at the overall ‘deal,’ one aspect which commands attention is that this is not a ‘deal‘ specifically between India and US but also between India and the non-proliferation regime. The larger ramifications of the deal involve multiple players. France and Russia have supported the idea of nuclear commerce for long. The ‘deal’ will help India to engage in nuclear commerce with these countries. India should also understand that it will face more difficulties negotiating with the US rather than other countries. The reason is that Americans are difficult to negotiate with, which is related to their identity as a hegemonic power.
Note: Excerpts from a book discussion at the IIC held on 19 May 2009. Click here for full report.
