INDO US NUCLEAR DEAL ADVANTAGE DISADVANTAGE

There are lot of talks about 1 2 3 Agreement between India & USA and it almost led to the topple of Central Government.Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement is the name commonly attributed to a bilateral agreement on nuclear cooperation between the United States of America and the Republic of India. The framework for this agreement was a Joint Statement by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and U.S. President George Bush, under which India agreed to separate its civil and military nuclear facilities and place its civil facilities under IAEA safeguards and, in exchange, the United States agreed to work toward full civil nucleear cooperation with India.Reason for taking Nuclear deal Signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) are granted access to civilian nuclear technology from each other as well as nuclear fuel via the Nuclear Suppliers Group in exchange for International Atomic Energy Agency-verified compliance of the NPT tenets. India, Israel, and Pakistan, however, have not signed the NPT, arguing that instead of addressing the central objective of universal and comprehensive non-proliferation, the treaty creates a club of “nuclear haves” and a larger group of “nuclear have-nots” by restricting the legal possession of nuclear weapons to those states that tested them before 1967, who alone are free to possess and multiply their nuclear stockpiles.India insists on a comprehensive action plan for a nuclear-free world within a specific time-frame and has also adopted a voluntary “no first use policy”.
In response to a growing Chinese nuclear arsenal, India conducted a nuclear test in 1974 (called “peaceful nuclear explosion” and explicitly not for “offensive” first strike military purposes but which could be used as a “peaceful deterrence”). Led by the US, other nations set up an informal group, the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), to control exports of nuclear materials, equipment and technology. As a result, India was relegated to a pariah status within the international nuclear order. India conducted 5 more nuclear tests in May, 1998 at Pokhran.What is 123 Agreement?This is called 123 Agreement because this comes under USA’s Atomic Power Act Section 123.Let’s see how India’s (Indians?) Sovereinty & Independence are pledged…(1) After this Agreement USA will supply all fuel, machinery / equipment & technology to India for producing Nuclear Power.(2) All these days from about 22 Nuclear Power Plants, India is producing power as well as Atom. It’s a high security / secret that from where which is produced, how much is produced, where it is supplied, what research is being done with that, etc. to anybody. But if we sign this Agreement, we have to disclose these secrets and also agree to 14 of our Nuclear Power Plants to be under the scanner of International Atomic Power Organisation.
(3) The fuel utilised to produce Atomic Power can be recycled for reuseand this plant will be under direct supervision of IAPO.If India does nuclear test, this agreement gets cancelled. But(1) USA will take back all the machinery / equipments / technology supplied to India thus far.
(2) Those 14 plants will continue to be under scanner irrespective of the status of the agreement.On the other hand, if any of the commitments given by USA is breached by them, then there is no clause for cancelling this agreement.
Why this aggrement is facing opposition in india?Although many mainstream political parties including the Indian National Congress support the deal along with regional parties like Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Rashtriya Janata Dal its realisation has run into difficulties in the face of stiff political opposition in India. Also, in November 2007, former Indian Military chiefs, bureaucrats and scientists drafted a letter to Members of Parliament expressing their support for the deal. However, opposition and criticism continued at political levels. The Samajwadi Party (SP) which was with the Left Front in opposing the deal changed its stand after discussing with ex-president of India and nuclear scientist Dr A P J Abdul Kalam. Now SP is in support of the government and the deal. Indian Government survived a vote of confidence by 275-256 after communists withdrew their support to the government over this dispute.Bharatiya Janata PartyThe main opposition party BJP which laid the groundwork for the deal criticized the deal saying that the deal in its present form was unacceptable to BJP and wanted the deal renegotiated. The BJP the current main opposition party in the Indian parliament has asked the government not to accept the deal without a vote in the parliament. However, the government remained steadfast on its commitment to the deal and has refused to back down on the agreement, leading to the possibility of mid-term elections in India. 81 year old veteran BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani, in a statement to the Indian Express newspaper, seemed to indicate willingness to support the government provided some legislative measures.However his party refused to follow that line and stuck to its earlier stand.
Left FrontThe primary opposition to the Nuclear deal in India, however, comes from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and its parliamentary allies (CPI, RSP, AIFB) November 17 the left parties had provisionally agreed to let the government initiate talks with the IAEA for India specific safeguards which indicated that they may support.The CPI(M), an external parliamentary supporter of government as it stipulates conditions that in some areas are more severe than the clauses in either the NPT or the CTBT. The left front formally removed the support to UPA-led government on July 8.OthersIn 2006, some Indian ex-nuclear scientists had written an appeal to Indian Members of Parliament to ensure that “decisions taken today do not inhibit India’s future ability to develop and pursue nuclear technologies for the benefit of the nation”. United Nationalist Progressive Alliance (UNPA)The UNPA was divided over support of the nuclear deal. While the SP supported it after consultations with Abdul Kalam, the other members of the UNPA led by the TDP opposed it saying that the deal is against India’s interest. The SP was eventually suspended from the UNPA.
Bahujan Samaj PartyThe BSP also opposed the nuclear deal, saying that it was anti-muslim. The party joined hands with the Left Front and the TDP in voting against the government in Parliament on the nuclear deal. The IAEA approvalThe IAEA Board of Governors approved the safeguards agreement on August 1st 2008, and now the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group must approve a policy allowing nuclear cooperation with India before President Bush can make the necessary certifications and seek final approval by the U.S. Congress. There were objections from Iran, Ireland, Norway, Switzerland and Austria at the IAEA meeting
Requirement of PowerThe most important requirement for India’s Economic Growth in the coming years will be the power & nfrastructure. The argument put forth favouring the 123 Agreement says that we need Nuclear Power Production to be increased to meet the demand.
Power Production in India Presently following are the figures:Thermal Power66%Hydel Power26%Solar & Wind Power5% – Presently Rs.600 Crores are spent for producing this power.Nuclear Power3% – If this is to be increased to 6%, it requires additional Rs.50,000 Crores.
Naturally it will be wise to increase other 3 modes of power production rather than the expensive & dangerous Nuclear Power. Isn’t??URANIUMWe used to import Uranium from various other countries.After the Pokran Test,we are not getting it.To augment the supply,we need to sign the 123 Agreement to get Uranium from USA.Bt we ill have to declare to USA from which power plant India takes raw material for producing Atom Bomb.Why should we disclose our internal secrets to those rascals? Will any one allow an outsider to continuously monitor what’s happening in your Hall & Kitchen of your house?Other study reveals that Uranium is available in India aplenty.