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Thursday, October 09
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US President George W Bush on Wednesday signed into law the legislation to implement the historic Indo-US civil nuclear deal paving the way for the two countries to formally ink the 123 agreement on Friday.
In significant comments at the signing ceremony, Bush assured there will be no changes in fuel supply commitments as contained in the 123 Agreement. "India can count on reliable fuel supplies (from US) for its reactors," Bush said.
Bush inked the authorising legislation finally approved by the US Congress last week in a high profile ceremony at the White House's ornate East Room reversing 34 years of US policy to eventually allow American businesses to have a share of India's 100 billion dollar nuclear pie.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will formally sign the overall bilateral nuclear cooperation accord on Friday evening itself in a surprise announcement made by the State Department hours before Bush's signature on the implementing legislation.
"On Friday at 4 o'clock (0130 IST Saturday) the secretary will sign with the Indian foreign minister, Foreign Minister Mukherjee, the India Civil Nuclear Agreement," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.
"This follows on the president's signature today of implementing legislation in the United States," he added.
In a major foreign policy success, Bush put his signature on " H R 7081, United States- India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Non-proliferation Enhancement Act " in the presence of Vice-President Dick Cheney, Rice, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, Indian Ambassador to the US Ronen Sen, lawmakers, prominent members of the Indian American community and leading businessmen of the two countries.
Bush said the legislation makes no changes in the 123 Agreement and it does not affect fuel exchange and reprocessing.
The President thanked not only members of his administration, especially at the State Department and White House who worked to secure the deal, but also lawmakers and leaders of the Indian American community.
He especially appreciated Rice for her "hard work" in bringing the deal to fruition.
The Presidential action culminates a over three-year tumultous journey for the deal which faced opposition from lawmakers in both the two countries that also saw Left parties withdrawing support to the Manmohan Singh government. Bush and Singh approved the deal on July 18, 2005 during the Prime Minister's visit to Washington.
Calling the Indian prime minister as his "dear friend", Bush said India and the US are "natural partners" despite being physically separated half way through the globe.
Bush also spoke of advanced consent for reprocessing. Bush's assurances appears to have taken care of Indian concerns over issues relating to unhindered american fuel supplies and technology transfers for uranium enrichment.
The President said the 123 Agreement is consistent with the Atomic Energy Act.
Despite the deal coming under attack from its critics in the US, the Bush Administration has steadfastly maintained it is a very big boon to global non-proliferation.
Once Bush signs the authorizing legislation, he is required to certify that the agreement with India is consistent with U.S. obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, designed to limit the spread of nuclear weapons.
He must also certify that it is U.S. policy to cooperate with international efforts to further restrict transfers of technology related to uranium enrichment and the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel.
Three decades after US imposed a ban on civilian nuclear trade with India after latter's first nuclear test in 1974, American officials have said a new approach is needed to help the world's largest democracy meet its booming energy needs at a time of skyrocketing oil prices and global warming fears.
Rice during a visit to New Delhi last week called the accord "a recognition of India's emergence on the global stage".
"The president looks forward to signing this bill into law and continuing to strengthen the US-India Strategic Partnership," a White House official said hours before the signing ceremony
"This legislation will strengthen our global nuclear nonproliferation efforts, protect the environment, create jobs, and assist India in meeting its growing energy needs in a responsible manner," the official said.
Rice and others had to lobby hard to win approval for the deal from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which controls global atomic trade.
She also pushed hard for the agreement to be approved by both Houses of Congress.
The historic agreement could not be inked during Rice's day-long visit to India on October 4 as New Delhi insisted that it would do so only after seeing Bush's signing statement. India is expecting Bush to clear the American position on certain aspects like fuel supply assurances.
The bill was approved by the House of Representatives before the Senate gave its nod for it. It had bi-partisan support in both the House and Senate.
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Friday, October 03
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Conventional — and Leftist — wisdom is that western corporations, especially American multinationals, will reap a bonanza from the lif
ting of the ban on nuclear trade between New Delhi and rest of the world, milking India of both money and indigenous enterprise. Wrong on two counts, say experts. One, Indian businesses and even state enterprises stand to gain as much if not more from the breakthrough in trade. And two, traditional American powerhouses are way behind the curve, having forfeited their lead in nuclear technology to Europe, Russia, and Japan.
One of the first reactions to the landmark deal came from the little-known Thorium Power Ltd, a McLean, Virginia-based company which recognizes India’s leadership in the use of thorium in the nuclear fuel cycle and which claims to have engaged various entities in India's private and governmental sectors for many years.
"India is in the forefront of the world in recognizing the distinct advantages of using thorium in the nuclear fuel cycle while Thorium Power is the world leader in developing non-proliferative, low waste thorium nuclear fuels. There is much we can learn from each other and much we can do together," the company said in a statement following the passage of the nuclear legislation. "This agreement allows us to hold advanced discussions with some of the leading entities and we anticipate that these business opportunities will move forward."
Thorium Power Ltd president and CEO Seth Crae reckons that India will become a "significant player" on the international nuclear market "given the nations great number of highly skilled nuclear engineers and scientists, and successful and far reaching multinational corporations." The 123 Agreement, he says, "affords a unique opportunity to combine India's great strengths with innovative American technology to significantly advance the world-wide nuclear renaissance."
Bunkum, say American non-proliferation gurus, smarting at the victory of the pro-deal coalition. The business opportunities are overstated, and the deal is fundamentally a strategic gambit that has shattered the non-proliferation structure, more than an energy trade breakthrough for America.
"The profits and jobs created will go elsewhere — primarily to Russia and France — but the downside risks of placing profit taking ahead of non-proliferation principles could be far-reaching and widely shared," says Michael Krepon, co-founder of the Washington-based Stimson Center. Russian and French firms, he maintains, will reap most of the benefits of these rule changes because they have very little U.S. competition. Westinghouse's nuclear power division has been purchased by Toshiba, and GE will be constrained from building nuclear power plants in India unless New Delhi enacts liability waivers against costly accidents.
For many lawmakers though, the business aspects were incidental to the deal. Ed Royce, a Republican Congressman from California, a state with some of the biggest defence contractors, said in an interview that his support for the deal was driven primarily by long-term strategic considerations. "India can buy nuclear equipment from Russia, France or any other country," Royce told TOI, "From my point, this deal advances broader economic engagement along with commitment to security between two countries that have many shared values."
But corporate America, which strained every muscle to push for the deal, is cock-a-hoop for now. The US-India Business Council said the breakthrough "would open a wide vista of opportunity for US-India collaboration in commerce, civil nuclear research, technology transfer, essential inputs to power India’s dynamic, fast-growing economy."
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