Date:18/11/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/11/18/stories/2007111860301000.htm

Front Page

Left: see accord in the context of strategic ties

Special Correspondent

“Benefit for American firms”

New Delhi: The India-U.S. nuclear cooperation agreement should not be seen in isolation from the overall context of India-U.S. strategic relations, its impact on India’s foreign policy and strategic autonomy, Left sources have said.

The agreement must be seen in the context of India’s energy security, access to technology and the development of the three-stage nuclear programme.

A recent editorial in People’s Democracy, CPI(M) organ, had quoted U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, as having said that the deal would cover nearly 90 per cent of India’s nuclear reactors under IAEA safeguards.

The most important benefit would be for the American firms who, “for the first time in three decades will be able to invest in India’s nuclear industry.”

“It must be seen in conjunction with the fact that the last order for a nuclear power reactor in the U.S. was placed nearly three decades ago. The deal, therefore, is to revive the profits of an industry that is being starved of orders in the U.S. itself because of the U.S. policy to discourage nuclear power generation considering the enormous damage that may occur in the likelihood of an accident,” the editorial said.