Indian-US Nuclear Deal News & Discussions

[con]

On the other side about China and Pakistan's sentiments well i dont think so. they are not kids to jump over such lil things as we all know the deal is a reality a little delay wont hurt it

Sorry but i am yet to understand how Pakistan or China will get effected by a CIVILIAN nuclear deal b/w US & India?

The reason given about India able to make more nuke weapons is nonsense. How much "more" weapons can India make? What would be the difference b.w India having 200 weapons or 2000 weapons? What will it do with it?
People dont seem to get it, that if India considers that 2000 weapons is what it wants,it will build it irrespective of having a nuclear deal with US or not!

I haven't seen any similar "sentiments" been displayed by India when China & US did a similar deal.

 

[Keysersoze]

Is India-US nuclear accord dead?
By Brajesh Upadhyay
BBC News, Washington

Manmohan Singh, at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) Training School in Mumbai 31 August 2007
Mr Singh's government could collapse over the deal

The Bush administration has maintained rather a brave face on Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's unexpected U-turn over the Indo-US nuclear deal, saying it's still "hopeful".

But Indo-US experts and those closely involved in galvanising support for the agreement here say it could mean a loss of credibility for a country that's positioning itself as an emerging global leader.

Doubts over whether Mr Singh's Congress party can sell the deal to its sceptical left-wing coalition allies have grown in recent weeks.

They are threatening to pull out of the government and force elections unless he ditches the deal.

There are increasing signs that Mr Singh is not prepared to risk that and an early election he might lose.

On Monday, Mr Singh called President Bush to tell him that "certain difficulties have arisen with respect to the operationalisation of the India-US civil nuclear co-operation agreement".


The White House has yet to respond, but state department spokesman Tom Casey said the US would like to see the deal done as soon as possible - "within the context of what each country has to do and has to accomplish".

But he stressed that he wouldn't be telling Indians how to manage their own internal affairs.

'Beyond reach'

In pushing the deal with India, the Bush administration had defied strong resistance from non-proliferation hardliners and the agreement was touted as a symbol for Indo-US relations in the 21st century.


India now needs to negotiate a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and win the consensus of the Nuclear Suppliers' Group so that the Bush administration can present the deal to Congress for a final vote before the end of 2007.

But that deadline now seems beyond reach.

"For India to forego this opportunity to end its nuclear isolation would blunt the country's opportunity to build out its nuclear capability to maximum potential," says Ron Somers, president of the US-India Business Council.

He says this opportunity beckons a whole new wave of high technology advancements, which is certain to "accelerate India's growth far into the 21st century - India's century".

Lisa Curtis, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, was recently quoted by a news magazine saying if the deal fell through because of India's domestic politics, it would be a setback for India's goals of increasing its global stature and influence.

"Not only would New Delhi be perceived to have shot itself in the foot, it would be highly unlikely for any future US administration to contemplate major initiatives with India," she said.


That's one question on everyone's mind. Will a new administration be as supportive of the deal, particularly a Democrat administration?

Democrat Jim McDermott is the chairperson of the India caucus in the House of Representatives. He says the deal is a "work in progress".

"What we have seen is just a hesitation in the process... not a serious end," he says. So if Democrats come to power will it mean picking up from where it was left?

"Administrations are now no longer important because we both have reasons to want each other to succeed," says Congressman McDermott.

'Betrayed'

Professor Anupam Srivastava of Georgia University says it's now or never.

"If a Democrat regime comes into power, the non-proliferation lobby would successfully insert amendments and conditionalities that will be clearly unacceptable to Indian scientists," says Professor Srivastava, who has been closely associated with the agreement since its conception.

He laments that the deal is stuck after so much hard work.

"If you do a referendum in India on this deal it will win, if you do a vote in the parliament it will fall," he says.

These sentiments are echoed by Swadesh Chatterjee of the Indo-US Friendship Council, a group that lobbied hard for the deal. He says he feels "betrayed" by domestic politics in India.

"I personally made 66 trips from North Carolina to Washington for this deal. I feel now the Indian government's credibility is at stake," he says.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Is India-US nuclear accord dead?

 

[Keysersoze]

India PM rejects resignation call
Manmohan Singh
Mr Singh has described the deal with the US as "historic"
Indian PM Manmohan Singh has rejected calls from the main opposition party to resign after his government appeared to have shelved a nuclear deal with US.

Mr Singh said he had not "given up hope" on the controversial deal that has been stiffly opposed by the government's communist allies.

Mr Singh told US President George W Bush recently that he was having difficulty implementing the deal.

It was the first clear sign India may shelve the deal.

Differences between the Congress-led government and its allies over the deal has led to talk of early elections.

The Congress Party's communist allies say the deal, which would allow India access to civilian nuclear technology and fuel, gives the US leverage on India's foreign policy.


We have to find a way out - I have not given up hope yet
Manmohan Singh on the nuclear deal with US

Is Indo-US deal dead?

Mr Singh told reporters that the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has been demanding his resignation had no "right" to make such a demand.

"The BJP is least qualified to talk about our moral right to govern [since it was in power when the] holocaust in Gujarat took place," he was quoted as telling Indian newspapers.

'Way out'

Mr Singh was alluding to the communal rioting in western Gujarat state in 2002 in which more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, lost their lives.

Mr Singh also said he was still hopeful about the nuclear deal.

"I have maintained there are some difficulties. We are a coalition. We have to find a way out. I have not given up hope yet," he said.

After many weeks during which the government insisted it would press ahead with the deal, Mr Singh's conversation with Mr Bush on Monday pointed to the government backtracking in the face of opposition.

But, on Thursday, Mr Singh told reporters on the sidelines of an official trip of Africa: "The process of evolving a meaningful consensus [on the nuclear deal] is still on."

The Congress Party and its allies are meeting again on Monday to discuss the deal.

Mr Singh called Mr Bush on Monday and told him that "certain difficulties have arisen with respect to the operationalisation of the India-US civil nuclear co-operation agreement".

He said last week that the nuclear agreement was "an honourable deal that is good for India and good for the world".

He said, however, that if the deal did not come through, he would be disappointed - but he could live with it.

The deal has also been criticised by many outside India.

Under the landmark nuclear deal, India is allowed to reprocess spent nuclear fuel - something that is seen as a major concession and opposed by some members of the US Congress as India has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | India PM rejects resignation call

 

[nad1]

hello people stopping talking s**t, the truth is the west doesnt want any country in east to have high tech capability that could relate to making reactors for energy of even who can climb the tree faster, it doesnt matter the usa wants to stay dominant, as for india if all indians got bikes and peadled im sure 1 billion bikes plus connected to generators would develop alot of energy and guess what you could buy 70% of the bike parts from russia!!!!

 

[karan.1970]

US, India reach nuclear reprocessing deal - India - The Times of India


WASHINGTON: India and the United States have concluded a nuclear fuel reprocessing agreement to advance their bilateral civilian nuclear deal, the Obama administration announced on Monday.

The agreement, a key step in the full realization of the US-India nuclear deal reached some 18 months ago, will enable Indian reprocessing of US-supplied nuclear material under safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Nuclear reprocessing typically involves separating and managing components of spent nuclear fuel, potentially including producing weapons-grade fuel for nuclear bombs; Washington's insistence on an internationally overseen reprocessing arrangement arose from the condition in the nuclear deal that India not divert US supplied nuclear fuel to its military program.

The US fuel-supply guarantee involved an Indian commitment to separate and firewall its civil and military reactors and set up of a dedicated reprocessing facility which will function under international (IAEA) safeguards. The just-concluded arrangement details the nuts and bolts of the inspection regime. Reactors designated as military facilities and nuclear fuel that India has produced up to now will be exempt from inspections or safeguards in this unique and exceptional arrangement.

Disclosing that the two sides have "taken an important step toward implementing civil nuclear cooperation by completing negotiations on 'arrangements and procedures' for reprocessing US-origin spent nuclear fuel, the State Department in a statement on Monday said that "completion of these arrangements will facilitate participation by US. firms in India's rapidly expanding civil nuclear energy sector."

The reprocessing arrangement was one of three residual issues the two sides were grappling with since the conclusion of the nuclear deal in October 2008. India is also required to establish by way of legislation a Civil Nuclear Liability Regime to limit compensation by American nuclear companies operating in India in case of nuclear accidents. Washington -- and US nuclear companies -- is waiting for New Delhi to pass a civil nuclear liabilities bill, which the government is expected to navigate through parliament.

A final requirement is for a written Indian "assurance" on non-proliferation under an obscure US. Energy Department rule which is considered more of a bureaucratic fine print issue.

Resolution of these residual issues and fully operationalizing the deal will lift a three-decade US moratorium on nuclear trade with India.

 

[booo]

India, U.S. agree terms on nuclear fuel reprocessing | Top News | Reuters

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India and the United States have agreed to terms on reprocessing spent nuclear fuel, a statement from the Foreign Ministry said on Monday, perhaps bringing the two countries closer to a lucrative civil nuclear deal.

The deal would give U.S. firms a share of a market worth $150 billion, but it was delayed when the Indian government this month shelved a bill to limit nuclear firms' liability in the case of accidents.

"India and the United States have taken an important step towards implementing the civil nuclear cooperation agreement by completing negotiations on 'arrangements and procedures' for reprocessing spent nuclear fuel", the statement said.

Negotiations between the two countries began last July, it added.

India has offered to tender construction of two nuclear power plants, an opportunity worth about $10 billion, to General Electric Co and Westinghouse Electric Co, a subsidiary of Japan's Toshiba Corp.

(Reporting by Rina Chandran; Editing by Nick Macfie)