United States President George W Bush has agreed to aid India’s civilian nuclear power programme, an unexpected decision that reverses three decades of American policies designed to deter nations from developing nuclear weapons.
The agreement between Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is the first exception to the international bar on nuclear assistance to any country that does not accept monitoring of all of its nuclear facilities.
India has not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, which requires oversight of nuclear installations, and conducted its first nuclear detonation in 1974 and more in 1998.
Bush will have to convince Congress to amend domestic legalisation that forbids cooperation between the US and non-nuclear states that conduct nuclear tests. India has agreed not to explode fresh devices and will place its civilian reactors, but not its military programme, under the international inspection regime.
The U-turn is seen as a diplomatic victory for India, which has long claimed that the rules governing nuclear technology discriminate against it. Bush said he would ”seek agreement from Congress to adjust US laws and policies” and work with ”friends and allies to adjust international regimes” for cooperation and trade with India.
Many experts said such a move, which rewards the atomic arsenal India manufactured in secret, would undermine US efforts to prevent Iran and North Korea from doing the same. It would also incense Pakistan.
There was also some scepticism that the Nuclear Suppliers Group, consisting of 40 countries that control exports of sensitive nuclear material and technology, would acquiesce to US requests for an exception to be made for Indian projects.
”Members like Brazil and South Africa, who gave up nuclear weapon technology under the international rules, will be angry that India has been rewarded after breaking the rules for so long,” said Praful Bidwai, a New Delhi-based analyst. — Â