Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said a civilian nuclear accord with the U.S. won't prevent weapons tests by the South Asian nation and doesn't compromise its independent foreign policy.
“The agreement does not in any way affect India's right to undertake future nuclear tests, if it is necessary in India's national interest,'' Singh told lawmakers in parliament amid opposition protests in New Delhi today. “Let me hence reiterate once again that a decision to undertake a future nuclear test would be our sovereign decision, one that rests solely with the government.''
Singh's statement follows calls by his Communist allies and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, two divergent political groupings, for a review of the agreement. The biggest Communist ally has said the agreement doesn't enjoy majority support in parliament, while the BJP has accused the government of arrogance in signing a document that ties India to U.S. interests for 40 years.
The agreement legitimizes India's status as a nuclear power, while opening up the market for suppliers of fissile material, technology and equipment. Areva SA, the world's largest maker of nuclear power stations, and General Electric Co. are among four companies poised to share $14 billion of orders from India as nations led by the U.S. prepare to lift a 33-year ban.
Big Business
Toshiba Corp.'s Westinghouse Electric Co. and Russia's atomic energy agency Rosatom will probably also win contracts to each build two 1,000-megawatt reactors, Nuclear Power Corp. of India Chairman S.K. Jain said earlier this month. India will be able to purchase equipment after the accord with the U.S. is approved by the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group.
While guaranteeing uninterrupted fuel supplies and giving India fuel reprocessing rights, the text of the agreement minimizes the scope for unilateral termination of the accord, Singh said in his speech.
“The agreement commits the parties to consult and to take into account specific factors such as national security, ongoing contracts and projects, compensation at market value, physical protection and environmental issues'' before the partners decide to call off the alliance, Singh said.
Political opposition to the bilateral agreement is centered around the so-called Hyde Act, a U.S. law that the opposition says will ultimately force India to abdicate its strategic interests to ensure the survival of the civilian nuclear alliance.
Hyde Act
The bilateral agreement should not be seen outside the context of the “harmful Hyde Act,'' said Rupchand Pal, a lawmaker of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). “The agreement will be guided by the Hyde Act, which is the `national law' of the U.S. Our foreign policy and sovereignty have been compromised to a large extent.''
The communist parties, which support the centrist coalition without being a part of it, opposed the July 2005 joint statement with the U.S. on civil nuclear cooperation and had asked the government not to negotiate the bilateral agreement. The war of words escalated after the text of the agreement was released on Aug. 3. The communists say the accord compromises India's sovereignty.
Singh dared the grouping of leftist parties to withdraw support to his administration over the accord. “I told them to do whatever they want to do; if they want to withdraw support, so be it,'' the Telegraph newspaper published from Kolkata cited Singh as saying in an interview on Aug. 11.
The ruling coalition has 226 seats in the 545-seat lower house or Lok Sabha, 47 short of a majority, and the communists have 59 seats.
Text of Accord
The accord had been held up by differences between India and the U.S. over the perennial supply of nuclear fuel, the right to reprocess spent fuel and the right to conduct nuclear tests. Both sides released the text of the accord following agreement on the terms.
The agreement steers clear of references to weapons testing and gives India reprocessing rights in facilities under global safeguards. It leaves India's military program out of its purview and promises uninterrupted fuel supplies to the civilian nuclear program.
Before the deal can be implemented, India has to negotiate accords with the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the International Atomic Energy Agency, after which President George W. Bush will seek Congressional approval.
