Date:09/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/09/stories/2008090956001000.htm

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

NSG waiver

The NSG waiver, which makes way for nuclear commerce with India, has not ended our nuclear isolation, as is being claimed. Rather, it has ended the long-standing, cherished stand of India against the discriminatory NPT regime. We have now become a willing and active party to the discriminatory nuclear world order. The waiver is said to have been secured after tough negotiations. Whatever the wordings of the waiver, one can be sure that in the final analysis India will stand to lose out on its sovereignty.

N. Sekar,

Salem

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The U.S. has a considerable foothold on the NSG and it will certainly spare no effort to ensure that all nuclear cooperation with India is consistent with the U.S. laws, especially the Hyde Act. The U.S. perception of the 123 agreement neither assures India lifetime fuel supplies nor grants it upfront rights on reprocessing which is at the core of its three-stage nuclear programme. Nuclear cooperation is of little avail should India be denied the opportunity of utilising its rich thorium resources.

B. Jayanna Krupakar,

Surathkal

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The euphoria of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his faithful band of supporters over the NSG waiver is expected, but their claim that it is a victory for India is unacceptable. If at all it is a victory, it is of the cunning Bush administration which has trapped the credulous Prime Minister in the NPT and the CTBT regime.

Ananda Murti Vemuri,

Visakhapatnam

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Even Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar finds it difficult to answer whether the NSG has given India a clean and unconditional waiver. Shorn of gobbledygook what the waiver means is: the NSG strictly prohibits the transfer of ENR to any country that is not part of the NPT; this policy has not changed and will not change because of the nuclear deal. The deal has bound India hand and foot as an unequal partner to nuclear commerce, whereby we shall be obligatory buyers of raw material from NSG member-states. We have forsworn forever our R&D programme to generate power through the much safer thorium-based route.

R.P. Subramanian,

New Delhi

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The NSG waiver marks the end of India’s three-decades-long isolation from the nuclear mainstream. I believe it will pave the way for the development of energy to meet the growing needs of our country. We need more nuclear energy than atom bombs.

S.J. Thomas,

Thiruvananthapuram

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There is no meaning in holding on to our right to test a nuclear weapon in future. We should channel our nuclear technology apparatus towards producing civilian nuclear energy. No country is ever going to use a nuclear weapon in any conflict. Why should we work further on something which we will never use?

M. Balakrishnan,

Hyderabad

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India has, at last, been recognised as a responsible nuclear power. That we have obtained an NSG waiver in spite of not being a signatory to the NPT and the CTBT is significant. India’s impeccable credentials have helped it to get its rightful place in the nuclear club.

George Easaw,

Bangalore

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The Prime Minister deserves praise for his clear vision and steadfast determination to make the deal happen even when faced with almost insurmountable obstacles. Congress president Sonia Gandhi too deserves to be commended for extending support to Dr. Singh’s efforts. I am not sure if all people understand that it was now or never. The global power architecture is changing with the U.S. declining and China growing. Had India wasted the chance to gain de facto nuclear power status now, it would have been very difficult for it to have received the same level of consideration by the IAEA and the NSG in future. It is true that the U.S. acted in enlightened self-interest. But India too did so.

Jit Dutta,

California

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The Indo-U.S. civil nuclear deal has cleared a major hurdle. It is on its way to becoming a reality as it is backed by the most powerful President of the world. The Bush administration will easily take it through the U.S. Congress. As for India, only time will tell whether the deal was a historic achievement or a historic blunder.

Anubhav Bhargava,

Gondia