India's Nuclear Agreement
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The hunt begins, reliance has entered get ready for big news's
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081006/jsp/business/story_9932820.jsp
Overseas uranium hunt intensifies
JAYANTA ROY CHOWDHURY & R. SURYAMURTHY
New Delhi, Oct. 5: The government has gone into overdrive in helping Indian companies acquire stakes in overseas uranium mining entities, at a time when India has forged closer ties in nuclear energy with the US.
Indian mining firms, both state-owned and private, are being helped by Indian embassies abroad to identify and buy uranium mines.
An informal message has gone across that India needs to have uranium mines, and the government will guarantee purchase of the radioactive mineral by the Nuclear Power Corporation, which runs 17 reactors and is setting up five more.
Sources said Reliance Industries had entered into an agreement with Uranium Exploration Australia (UXA), though the country is still resisting the export of the mineral.
RIL Australia, a subsidiary of Reliance, has bought a 49 per cent interest in four of UXA’s exploration licences in the state of South Australia and four of UXA’s exploration licence applications in Northern Territory. The exploration programme, of which 49 per cent will be funded by Reliance, will cost about Australian $19.4 million.
Jindal Steel & Power has bought stakes in Canadian firms which mine uranium in Mongolia. The Jindals have purchased the Mongolian assets of Vancouver-based Bluerock Resources and Uranerz Energy for $2.6 million.
State-owned Oil India Limited plans to enter into a tie-up with Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) for mining in the country. The energy exploration firm has found uranium while searching for oil and gas.
Before these companies made their moves, little-known Taurian Resources had won a contract in Niger giving it exclusive rights over 3,000 sq km of the Sahara desert. The Arlit region, in the Sahara, is estimated to hold at least 30,000 tonnes.
India is also in talks with Gabon, Niger and Namibia for uranium supplies.
The deals would involve assured supplies, coupled with, in some cases, Indian companies picking up stakes in mines. India may also enter into civilian and military co- operation pacts with the African countries. Namibia holds about eight-to-nine per cent of global uranium resources.
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has entered into an agreement with UCIL to buy uranium equity abroad and hunt for domestic resources.
Senior government officials said Indian companies were being encouraged to buy stakes in uranium mines to ensure continued fuel supply to the country.
Private companies are buying stakes as they are hopeful of the government allowing them in nuclear power generation.
According to the Planning Commission, the deal with the US will enable India to add 15,960MW to its capacity by 2017, taking total capacity to around 20,000MW.
Most plants are operating at half their capacity because of the unavailability of uranium. India plans to have 18 to 20 new nuclear power plants over the next 15 years.
At present, plants can be set up only by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, and uranium mining done solely by UCIL.
Private entities such as the Tatas, Reliance Power, the Essar group, the Vedanta group and the GMR group are awaiting amendments in the Atomic Energy Act to make conditions favourable for private investment.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081006/jsp/business/story_9932820.jsp
Overseas uranium hunt intensifies
JAYANTA ROY CHOWDHURY & R. SURYAMURTHY
New Delhi, Oct. 5: The government has gone into overdrive in helping Indian companies acquire stakes in overseas uranium mining entities, at a time when India has forged closer ties in nuclear energy with the US.
Indian mining firms, both state-owned and private, are being helped by Indian embassies abroad to identify and buy uranium mines.
An informal message has gone across that India needs to have uranium mines, and the government will guarantee purchase of the radioactive mineral by the Nuclear Power Corporation, which runs 17 reactors and is setting up five more.
Sources said Reliance Industries had entered into an agreement with Uranium Exploration Australia (UXA), though the country is still resisting the export of the mineral.
RIL Australia, a subsidiary of Reliance, has bought a 49 per cent interest in four of UXA’s exploration licences in the state of South Australia and four of UXA’s exploration licence applications in Northern Territory. The exploration programme, of which 49 per cent will be funded by Reliance, will cost about Australian $19.4 million.
Jindal Steel & Power has bought stakes in Canadian firms which mine uranium in Mongolia. The Jindals have purchased the Mongolian assets of Vancouver-based Bluerock Resources and Uranerz Energy for $2.6 million.
State-owned Oil India Limited plans to enter into a tie-up with Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) for mining in the country. The energy exploration firm has found uranium while searching for oil and gas.
Before these companies made their moves, little-known Taurian Resources had won a contract in Niger giving it exclusive rights over 3,000 sq km of the Sahara desert. The Arlit region, in the Sahara, is estimated to hold at least 30,000 tonnes.
India is also in talks with Gabon, Niger and Namibia for uranium supplies.
The deals would involve assured supplies, coupled with, in some cases, Indian companies picking up stakes in mines. India may also enter into civilian and military co- operation pacts with the African countries. Namibia holds about eight-to-nine per cent of global uranium resources.
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has entered into an agreement with UCIL to buy uranium equity abroad and hunt for domestic resources.
Senior government officials said Indian companies were being encouraged to buy stakes in uranium mines to ensure continued fuel supply to the country.
Private companies are buying stakes as they are hopeful of the government allowing them in nuclear power generation.
According to the Planning Commission, the deal with the US will enable India to add 15,960MW to its capacity by 2017, taking total capacity to around 20,000MW.
Most plants are operating at half their capacity because of the unavailability of uranium. India plans to have 18 to 20 new nuclear power plants over the next 15 years.
At present, plants can be set up only by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, and uranium mining done solely by UCIL.
Private entities such as the Tatas, Reliance Power, the Essar group, the Vedanta group and the GMR group are awaiting amendments in the Atomic Energy Act to make conditions favourable for private investment.
nitesh
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Sell n-reactors to India, apex body tells Canada- Politics/Nation-News-The Economic Times
Sell n-reactors to India, apex body tells Canada
6 Oct, 2008, 1125 hrs IST, IANS
TORONTO: The Canada-India Business Council (C-IBC) has urged Canada to resume sale of nuclear reactors to India after the recent lifting of nuclear embargo on it.
The apex trade body has also expressed concern over denial of business visas to Indians that is hampering the growth of trade between the two countries.
``At $4.1 bn currently, our annual trade is not very high. To boost it, you need exchanges of visits by business people. But visas are being denied to Indian business people who want to visit Canada,'' C-IBC outgoing president Kam Rathee told IANS.
``Canadian businesses want their Indian counterparts to come here, but the Canadian mission in India does not want to issue them visas. To remove this irritant is our priority number one,'' he said.
Compared to the US, the UK and Australia, he said, Canadians have been very slow in taking advantage of business opportunities in India.
``Canada never learnt about these opportunities as more than 90 per cent of its business is with the US. But now they have realized it and I hope that once the major irritants like denial of business visas are removed, the trade will pick up,'' said Rathee.
The recent lifting of nuclear embargo on India offered a great opportunity for Canadians, he said.
``The newly signed India-US nuclear deal will create 250,000 jobs in America. Canada should also create jobs selling nuclear reactors to India as they did in the past. The C-IBC will have talks with Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) to ask them to grab these new opportunities India offers,'' said Rathee.
The coming boom in the Indian mining sector, he said, offered another big opportunity for Canadian companies in India.
``Only now have India realized how much wealth is lying beneath it. The Indian mining sector is set to boom. Canada should move in quickly to grab these opportunities as it has the best expertise in mining.''
Rathee said the sagging Canadian auto industry could also benefit by getting auto parts from India. ``They can even have their cars assembled in India at a much cheaper cost and get them shipped over here.''
He said the two countries also need to deepen their relationship in the field of education. ``Compared to the number of Indian students (18,500 in 2007) going to Australia, Canada has just 2,700-plus students from India.
That is why we are taking an education mission to India next month to facilitate one-on-one talks between universities and educational institutions,'' he said.
Founded by Bata Shoe Company owner Thomas Bata in 1982, the C-IBC represents about 130 companies with the aim of promoting trade ties between India and Canada.
Sell n-reactors to India, apex body tells Canada
6 Oct, 2008, 1125 hrs IST, IANS
TORONTO: The Canada-India Business Council (C-IBC) has urged Canada to resume sale of nuclear reactors to India after the recent lifting of nuclear embargo on it.
The apex trade body has also expressed concern over denial of business visas to Indians that is hampering the growth of trade between the two countries.
``At $4.1 bn currently, our annual trade is not very high. To boost it, you need exchanges of visits by business people. But visas are being denied to Indian business people who want to visit Canada,'' C-IBC outgoing president Kam Rathee told IANS.
``Canadian businesses want their Indian counterparts to come here, but the Canadian mission in India does not want to issue them visas. To remove this irritant is our priority number one,'' he said.
Compared to the US, the UK and Australia, he said, Canadians have been very slow in taking advantage of business opportunities in India.
``Canada never learnt about these opportunities as more than 90 per cent of its business is with the US. But now they have realized it and I hope that once the major irritants like denial of business visas are removed, the trade will pick up,'' said Rathee.
The recent lifting of nuclear embargo on India offered a great opportunity for Canadians, he said.
``The newly signed India-US nuclear deal will create 250,000 jobs in America. Canada should also create jobs selling nuclear reactors to India as they did in the past. The C-IBC will have talks with Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) to ask them to grab these new opportunities India offers,'' said Rathee.
The coming boom in the Indian mining sector, he said, offered another big opportunity for Canadian companies in India.
``Only now have India realized how much wealth is lying beneath it. The Indian mining sector is set to boom. Canada should move in quickly to grab these opportunities as it has the best expertise in mining.''
Rathee said the sagging Canadian auto industry could also benefit by getting auto parts from India. ``They can even have their cars assembled in India at a much cheaper cost and get them shipped over here.''
He said the two countries also need to deepen their relationship in the field of education. ``Compared to the number of Indian students (18,500 in 2007) going to Australia, Canada has just 2,700-plus students from India.
That is why we are taking an education mission to India next month to facilitate one-on-one talks between universities and educational institutions,'' he said.
Founded by Bata Shoe Company owner Thomas Bata in 1982, the C-IBC represents about 130 companies with the aim of promoting trade ties between India and Canada.
Pakistan, India and the nuclear deal
The US Congress has passed the US-India nuclear agreement and the $100 billion Indian nuclear market will now be open to American business after President Bush has signed the deal. The deal gives legal space to India outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) though Mohamed ElBaradei, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is on record as denying the notion of the five recognised nuclear powers under the NPT as “legitimate”. A sharp international lawyer, Mr ElBaradei’s interpretation is consistent with Article VI of the NPT which insists on total disarmament. He has also advocated pulling Pakistan and Israel into the recognised nuclear regime.
Pakistan has officially protested the “deal” in the past. However, it faced a paradox. It could either go all out and oppose it or demand a similar deal for itself in which case it could not use the proliferation argument to oppose the US-India deal. In reality, it happily let the non-proliferationists in the US oppose the deal while lobbying for it herself. There was never a consistent policy but privately everyone in Islamabad had realised that it could not stop the deal from outside. Pakistan therefore hoped that the deal would make shipwreck on a number of rocks, given the meandering course it had to take to fruition. Ironically, the deal nearly got wrecked because of the Left and Right within India!
Some elements within Pakistan are trying to present a bleak picture of what India can get out of this deal. The fact is that the advantage of the deal to India is not that it will be able to make more bombs or become energy-efficient. It already has enough bombs to deter Pakistan and the deal is unlikely to address its energy needs beyond 10 to 12 percent. The real advantage is that the United States and with it Russia, France, Australia et al have accepted India’s rising status as a partner state and gone a couple of extra miles to accommodate its nuclear status legally outside the NPT. That is where the rub lies.
When President Bush said that Pakistan could not get a similar deal, he was pointing to how Pakistan is looked at despite being an ally. The Pakistani public has never made any bones about being anti-American. Washington knows that Pakistan is allied with it not because it accepts the current global status quo but because it cannot break free of it presently. India, on the other hand, has accepted the global architecture and gone to work on enhancing its status within it. There is a world of difference between the two approaches, present as they do two different worldviews.
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has brushed aside the deal by saying that it provides moral justification for Pakistan to get the same kind of “deal” from someone who can supply nuclear technology to it. President Asif Ali Zardari, who says he expects the international community to come up with a $100 billion bailout grant for Pakistan, is miffed about the Indo-American nuclear deal, but not overly so. He knows Pakistan is in dire straits economically and politically and the charges of proliferation continue to haunt it. In fact, he said in New York that “India has never been a threat to Pakistan. I, for one, and our democratic government are not scared of Indian influence abroad”. He is also in favour of trading freely with India.
Opinion in Pakistan thinks Islamabad is not doing enough to get a similar deal from China. Such thinking is unrealistic and totally unaware of the compulsions China has with regard to breaking, not so much the NPT, which is broken now anyway, as the agreement with the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) of countries who have nuclear technology on offer. It has helped Pakistan and will continue to do so but within certain constraints and, most importantly, it would not want to go around flaunting such help.
At the nuclear club, China, while voting with the rest on the Indo-US deal, has spoken in favour of giving Pakistan the same kind of exemption from the NPT as was given to India. Here is the beginning of Pakistan’s march back to being a normal state. In the coming months the government should show the world that it wants to become normal despite all the internal pressures to continue on the path of anarchy and international isolation. And as its first big step in that direction it must get on the fast track of normalisation of relations with India. Pakistan’s insecurity is coming from its economy because in the past it has done almost nothing to rectify those structural problems that can unleash the country’s economic potential.
The world was not all in favour of the nuclear deal between the US and India. Anti-proliferationists inside and outside the US warned against violating the NPT and throwing the world open to proliferation. They envisage many states in the Middle East — with ample supplies of oil to burn — trying to set up nuclear power plants, a clear indication of ultimate nuclearisation. But everyone thought that the hurdle of getting a no-objection certificate from the 45 countries with bans placed on India would be un-crossable. However, when the NSG said yes, the deal was finally done.
Pakistan has nuclear weapons and they will always be a good “minimum” deterrent if Pakistan walks the road of peace and begins to address its internal problems. One irreducible consequence of deterrence between two nuclear powers is the freezing of the status quo. Every time Pakistan has tried to change it, it has lost trust and prestige in the world. The decision to devote more attention to Pakistan’s internal disorder must come from the elected leadership of the country and not from the army. Pakistan is in the process of coping with the blowback of the doctrine of “strategic depth”, a purely military idea which no one is able to explain and justify. *
Second Editorial: Iran and the delayed pipeline
Iran has once again demanded an amendment in the sales and purchase agreement (GSPA) for the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project to ensure it won’t have to pay a penalty for disruption of supplies in case there is war. It wants the earlier “act of war” clause changed to “situation of armed conflicts or war” under force majeure. It also wants to include a penalty on Pakistan if it cuts supply to India by cutting the same amount from supply to Pakistan.
This is a triple pile-up of lack of trust. India doesn’t trust Pakistan with its gas supply. It also doesn’t trust Iran too much because the latter has a way of going back and changing terms agreed earlier in treaties. Iran doesn’t trust Pakistan because of the latter’s sectarian temperament, but it also doesn’t trust India’s behaviour when it comes to India seeking its interest with the United States. Pakistan is desperate because its own gas from Balochistan is probably going to start depleting in 2011. And Iran and India both don’t think that Pakistan will be able to pacify Balochistan enough to take the pipeline through to India. Yet the sane argument is that the pipeline will remove all distrust and ensure peace at least between Pakistan and India, and incline Iran to moderate state behaviour.
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
The US Congress has passed the US-India nuclear agreement and the $100 billion Indian nuclear market will now be open to American business after President Bush has signed the deal. The deal gives legal space to India outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) though Mohamed ElBaradei, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is on record as denying the notion of the five recognised nuclear powers under the NPT as “legitimate”. A sharp international lawyer, Mr ElBaradei’s interpretation is consistent with Article VI of the NPT which insists on total disarmament. He has also advocated pulling Pakistan and Israel into the recognised nuclear regime.
Pakistan has officially protested the “deal” in the past. However, it faced a paradox. It could either go all out and oppose it or demand a similar deal for itself in which case it could not use the proliferation argument to oppose the US-India deal. In reality, it happily let the non-proliferationists in the US oppose the deal while lobbying for it herself. There was never a consistent policy but privately everyone in Islamabad had realised that it could not stop the deal from outside. Pakistan therefore hoped that the deal would make shipwreck on a number of rocks, given the meandering course it had to take to fruition. Ironically, the deal nearly got wrecked because of the Left and Right within India!
Some elements within Pakistan are trying to present a bleak picture of what India can get out of this deal. The fact is that the advantage of the deal to India is not that it will be able to make more bombs or become energy-efficient. It already has enough bombs to deter Pakistan and the deal is unlikely to address its energy needs beyond 10 to 12 percent. The real advantage is that the United States and with it Russia, France, Australia et al have accepted India’s rising status as a partner state and gone a couple of extra miles to accommodate its nuclear status legally outside the NPT. That is where the rub lies.
When President Bush said that Pakistan could not get a similar deal, he was pointing to how Pakistan is looked at despite being an ally. The Pakistani public has never made any bones about being anti-American. Washington knows that Pakistan is allied with it not because it accepts the current global status quo but because it cannot break free of it presently. India, on the other hand, has accepted the global architecture and gone to work on enhancing its status within it. There is a world of difference between the two approaches, present as they do two different worldviews.
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has brushed aside the deal by saying that it provides moral justification for Pakistan to get the same kind of “deal” from someone who can supply nuclear technology to it. President Asif Ali Zardari, who says he expects the international community to come up with a $100 billion bailout grant for Pakistan, is miffed about the Indo-American nuclear deal, but not overly so. He knows Pakistan is in dire straits economically and politically and the charges of proliferation continue to haunt it. In fact, he said in New York that “India has never been a threat to Pakistan. I, for one, and our democratic government are not scared of Indian influence abroad”. He is also in favour of trading freely with India.
Opinion in Pakistan thinks Islamabad is not doing enough to get a similar deal from China. Such thinking is unrealistic and totally unaware of the compulsions China has with regard to breaking, not so much the NPT, which is broken now anyway, as the agreement with the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) of countries who have nuclear technology on offer. It has helped Pakistan and will continue to do so but within certain constraints and, most importantly, it would not want to go around flaunting such help.
At the nuclear club, China, while voting with the rest on the Indo-US deal, has spoken in favour of giving Pakistan the same kind of exemption from the NPT as was given to India. Here is the beginning of Pakistan’s march back to being a normal state. In the coming months the government should show the world that it wants to become normal despite all the internal pressures to continue on the path of anarchy and international isolation. And as its first big step in that direction it must get on the fast track of normalisation of relations with India. Pakistan’s insecurity is coming from its economy because in the past it has done almost nothing to rectify those structural problems that can unleash the country’s economic potential.
The world was not all in favour of the nuclear deal between the US and India. Anti-proliferationists inside and outside the US warned against violating the NPT and throwing the world open to proliferation. They envisage many states in the Middle East — with ample supplies of oil to burn — trying to set up nuclear power plants, a clear indication of ultimate nuclearisation. But everyone thought that the hurdle of getting a no-objection certificate from the 45 countries with bans placed on India would be un-crossable. However, when the NSG said yes, the deal was finally done.
Pakistan has nuclear weapons and they will always be a good “minimum” deterrent if Pakistan walks the road of peace and begins to address its internal problems. One irreducible consequence of deterrence between two nuclear powers is the freezing of the status quo. Every time Pakistan has tried to change it, it has lost trust and prestige in the world. The decision to devote more attention to Pakistan’s internal disorder must come from the elected leadership of the country and not from the army. Pakistan is in the process of coping with the blowback of the doctrine of “strategic depth”, a purely military idea which no one is able to explain and justify. *
Second Editorial: Iran and the delayed pipeline
Iran has once again demanded an amendment in the sales and purchase agreement (GSPA) for the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project to ensure it won’t have to pay a penalty for disruption of supplies in case there is war. It wants the earlier “act of war” clause changed to “situation of armed conflicts or war” under force majeure. It also wants to include a penalty on Pakistan if it cuts supply to India by cutting the same amount from supply to Pakistan.
This is a triple pile-up of lack of trust. India doesn’t trust Pakistan with its gas supply. It also doesn’t trust Iran too much because the latter has a way of going back and changing terms agreed earlier in treaties. Iran doesn’t trust Pakistan because of the latter’s sectarian temperament, but it also doesn’t trust India’s behaviour when it comes to India seeking its interest with the United States. Pakistan is desperate because its own gas from Balochistan is probably going to start depleting in 2011. And Iran and India both don’t think that Pakistan will be able to pacify Balochistan enough to take the pipeline through to India. Yet the sane argument is that the pipeline will remove all distrust and ensure peace at least between Pakistan and India, and incline Iran to moderate state behaviour.
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
nitesh
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India may sign 123 Agreement on October 10
Lalit K Jha
Monday, October 06, 2008, (New York)
The Indo-US Civilian Nuclear Deal -- or the so-called 123 Agreement -- is expected to be signed in Washington on October 10, two days after the US President George W Bush would sign into law the legislation in this regard passed by the US Congress last week.
Informative sources in the State Department told NDTV.com that the External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to arrive in Washington later this week to ink the deal with his US counterpart, the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The 123 Agreement was initially expected to be signed over the weekend in New Delhi during the visit of Rice to India. But this could not be signed because of what the officials termed as procedural matters.
However, it is believed that India was reluctant to sign the agreement before Bush signs the US India Civilian Nuclear Cooperation and Enhancement Act into law. The Act was passed by the Congress last week.
At a function at the White House on October 8, President Bush is scheduled to sign the bill in presence of a select group of Indian-American leaders and eminent officials and lawmakers who played a key role in its Congressional passage.
The signing of the 123 Agreement -- the text of which has already been agreed upon and was released by both the US and Indian governments on August 3, 2007 -- would bring to an end the process which was started with the issuing of a joint statement by Bush and the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on July 18, 2005, when the latter visited Washington on a state visit.
The agreement would also start a new era of relationship between India and the US, with the American corporate world entering into separate agreements with India on civilian use of nuclear technology by India, mostly for generation of electricity.
A number of US companies have already expressed their keen interest in entering into business tie up with India in the field of civilian nuclear energy. With the US economy in a bad shape, US companies and the Bush Administration now expects that the Indian Government would expedite the process.
India has insisted that all international players would get a level playing field and economical viability of the projects would be the sole criteria while awarding projects. Besides US companies, those from Russia and France too are vying for Indian nuclear energy projects. France already inked a deal with India last week when Manmohan Singh was in Paris.
India may sign 123 Agreement on October 10
Lalit K Jha
Monday, October 06, 2008, (New York)
The Indo-US Civilian Nuclear Deal -- or the so-called 123 Agreement -- is expected to be signed in Washington on October 10, two days after the US President George W Bush would sign into law the legislation in this regard passed by the US Congress last week.
Informative sources in the State Department told NDTV.com that the External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to arrive in Washington later this week to ink the deal with his US counterpart, the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The 123 Agreement was initially expected to be signed over the weekend in New Delhi during the visit of Rice to India. But this could not be signed because of what the officials termed as procedural matters.
However, it is believed that India was reluctant to sign the agreement before Bush signs the US India Civilian Nuclear Cooperation and Enhancement Act into law. The Act was passed by the Congress last week.
At a function at the White House on October 8, President Bush is scheduled to sign the bill in presence of a select group of Indian-American leaders and eminent officials and lawmakers who played a key role in its Congressional passage.
The signing of the 123 Agreement -- the text of which has already been agreed upon and was released by both the US and Indian governments on August 3, 2007 -- would bring to an end the process which was started with the issuing of a joint statement by Bush and the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on July 18, 2005, when the latter visited Washington on a state visit.
The agreement would also start a new era of relationship between India and the US, with the American corporate world entering into separate agreements with India on civilian use of nuclear technology by India, mostly for generation of electricity.
A number of US companies have already expressed their keen interest in entering into business tie up with India in the field of civilian nuclear energy. With the US economy in a bad shape, US companies and the Bush Administration now expects that the Indian Government would expedite the process.
India has insisted that all international players would get a level playing field and economical viability of the projects would be the sole criteria while awarding projects. Besides US companies, those from Russia and France too are vying for Indian nuclear energy projects. France already inked a deal with India last week when Manmohan Singh was in Paris.
TEHRAN: The US-Indian nuclear agreement violates the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Irans official news agency quotes Muhammad Saeedi, deputy head of Irans atomic energy department, as saying. Saeedi says nuclear-armed India has not signed the treaty and that transferring nuclear technology to India would undermine it, the IRNA agency reports. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited India on Saturday to commemorate - but not sign - the deal. US officials say they will respect the non-proliferation treaty. Washington says Irans nuclear activities are designed to build a nuclear bomb. Iran says its programme is peaceful.
nitesh
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http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2008/10/08/2003425332
India an exception when it comes to selling nuclear materials
By Shashi Tharoor
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2008, Page 9
The ratification by the US Congress of the historic India-US Nuclear Agreement marks a remarkable new development in world affairs. Initially signed in July 2005, the agreement is a major milestone in the growing partnership between the world’s largest democracies.
That agreement signals recognition of what may be called “the Indian exception” — a decision by the world’s sole superpower, together with all other nations involved in commerce in nuclear-related materials, to sell such materials to India, despite India’s refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and its two nuclear tests.
India’s refusal to sign the NPT was based on principle, for the NPT is the last vestige of apartheid in the international system, granting as it does to five permanent members of the UN Security Council the right to be nuclear weapons states while denying the same right to others. A long-time advocate of global nuclear disarmament, India’s moral stand on the NPT enjoys near-unanimous backing within the country. Its weapons program is also widely (though far from universally) supported at home as a security imperative in a dangerous neighborhood.
Unlike Iran and North Korea, which signed the NPT and then violated its provisions through clandestine nuclear weapons programs, India has openly pursued its own nuclear development, and it has a stellar record on non-proliferation, never exporting its technology or leaking a nuclear secret. Moreover, its nuclear program is under strict civilian control.
All of this is implicitly recognized in the newly ratified India-US accord, which survived tough bilateral negotiations, codification of its provisions into US law, and unanimous approval in August by the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Finally, the Nuclear Suppliers Group of 45 countries, urged by the US President George W. Bush’s administration to follow the IAEA’s example, did so unconditionally.
US congressional was the last act of a long drama, and it cleared the way for US companies to bid for Indian nuclear contracts, an area in which they will face stiff competition from France and Russia. But the agreement’s main significance should be seen in terms of the burgeoning Indo-American relationship.
Estranged during the Cold War by US support for Pakistan and India’s leadership of the non-aligned movement, the two countries have been drawing ever closer during the last decade.
Bilateral trade is booming. US companies have quintupled their investments in India over the last decade. Indians are reading MRIs for US patients, providing call-center support for US consumers, and delivering world-class research and development services for US companies. Polls have repeatedly revealed that India is one of the few countries in the developing world where the US is still held in high regard.
India has also become a more visible presence in the US. There are more Indian students at US universities than those of any other foreign nationality. The successes of the growing Indian-American population have made it an influential minority in the US, including thousands of doctors and nurses, innovative Silicon Valley professionals (one of whom invented the Pentium chip, while another created Hotmail), the chief executive officers of Citigroup and Pepsi, two US astronauts, and the young governor of Louisiana — in addition to taxi-drivers, gas-station attendants, and clerks at all-night convenience stores.
Yoga clinics are rampant across the country, Indian restaurants are mushrooming in the remotest exurbs, and Bollywood DVDs have found unlikely American fans. India’s place in the consciousness of the US is fundamentally different from what it was just half a generation ago.
Clearly, both the Bush administration and Congress have recognized this intensifying partnership when they approved the India-US Nuclear Agreement. There was, of course, opposition within both countries to the deal. In the US, the “non-proliferation ayatollahs,” who hypocritically consider nuclear weapons an unmitigated evil except in their own hands, railed against it. In India, parties on both the left and the right opposed it — the former claiming that it mortgaged India’s foreign policy to the US, and the latter arguing that it didn’t go far enough to preserve India’s nuclear independence.
But, like all good agreements, the deal is a “win-win.” It helps India cope with energy shortages by tripling its nuclear power generating capacity, and it provides major business opportunities for US companies to sell reactors and nuclear technology. Moreover, by subjecting India’s civilian nuclear installations to international inspections, it achieves an important US foreign policy objective by bringing India into the worldwide non-proliferation fold. And there’s no question that helping India to grow will earn America the gratitude of the world’s largest free-market democracy.
The agreement will not transform India’s energy situation overnight, or end the country’s dependence on expensive fuel imports. But its passage confirms that the US relationship with India promises to be one of the US’ closest and strategically most important in the twenty-first century. As the US struggles with a financial crisis and quagmires in the Middle East and Central Asia, sealing this agreement with India may be one of the beleaguered Bush administration’s only enduring foreign policy accomplishments.
Shashi Tharoor, an acclaimed novelist and commentator, is a former under-secretary-general of the UN.
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India an exception when it comes to selling nuclear materials
By Shashi Tharoor
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2008, Page 9
The ratification by the US Congress of the historic India-US Nuclear Agreement marks a remarkable new development in world affairs. Initially signed in July 2005, the agreement is a major milestone in the growing partnership between the world’s largest democracies.
That agreement signals recognition of what may be called “the Indian exception” — a decision by the world’s sole superpower, together with all other nations involved in commerce in nuclear-related materials, to sell such materials to India, despite India’s refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and its two nuclear tests.
India’s refusal to sign the NPT was based on principle, for the NPT is the last vestige of apartheid in the international system, granting as it does to five permanent members of the UN Security Council the right to be nuclear weapons states while denying the same right to others. A long-time advocate of global nuclear disarmament, India’s moral stand on the NPT enjoys near-unanimous backing within the country. Its weapons program is also widely (though far from universally) supported at home as a security imperative in a dangerous neighborhood.
Unlike Iran and North Korea, which signed the NPT and then violated its provisions through clandestine nuclear weapons programs, India has openly pursued its own nuclear development, and it has a stellar record on non-proliferation, never exporting its technology or leaking a nuclear secret. Moreover, its nuclear program is under strict civilian control.
All of this is implicitly recognized in the newly ratified India-US accord, which survived tough bilateral negotiations, codification of its provisions into US law, and unanimous approval in August by the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Finally, the Nuclear Suppliers Group of 45 countries, urged by the US President George W. Bush’s administration to follow the IAEA’s example, did so unconditionally.
US congressional was the last act of a long drama, and it cleared the way for US companies to bid for Indian nuclear contracts, an area in which they will face stiff competition from France and Russia. But the agreement’s main significance should be seen in terms of the burgeoning Indo-American relationship.
Estranged during the Cold War by US support for Pakistan and India’s leadership of the non-aligned movement, the two countries have been drawing ever closer during the last decade.
Bilateral trade is booming. US companies have quintupled their investments in India over the last decade. Indians are reading MRIs for US patients, providing call-center support for US consumers, and delivering world-class research and development services for US companies. Polls have repeatedly revealed that India is one of the few countries in the developing world where the US is still held in high regard.
India has also become a more visible presence in the US. There are more Indian students at US universities than those of any other foreign nationality. The successes of the growing Indian-American population have made it an influential minority in the US, including thousands of doctors and nurses, innovative Silicon Valley professionals (one of whom invented the Pentium chip, while another created Hotmail), the chief executive officers of Citigroup and Pepsi, two US astronauts, and the young governor of Louisiana — in addition to taxi-drivers, gas-station attendants, and clerks at all-night convenience stores.
Yoga clinics are rampant across the country, Indian restaurants are mushrooming in the remotest exurbs, and Bollywood DVDs have found unlikely American fans. India’s place in the consciousness of the US is fundamentally different from what it was just half a generation ago.
Clearly, both the Bush administration and Congress have recognized this intensifying partnership when they approved the India-US Nuclear Agreement. There was, of course, opposition within both countries to the deal. In the US, the “non-proliferation ayatollahs,” who hypocritically consider nuclear weapons an unmitigated evil except in their own hands, railed against it. In India, parties on both the left and the right opposed it — the former claiming that it mortgaged India’s foreign policy to the US, and the latter arguing that it didn’t go far enough to preserve India’s nuclear independence.
But, like all good agreements, the deal is a “win-win.” It helps India cope with energy shortages by tripling its nuclear power generating capacity, and it provides major business opportunities for US companies to sell reactors and nuclear technology. Moreover, by subjecting India’s civilian nuclear installations to international inspections, it achieves an important US foreign policy objective by bringing India into the worldwide non-proliferation fold. And there’s no question that helping India to grow will earn America the gratitude of the world’s largest free-market democracy.
The agreement will not transform India’s energy situation overnight, or end the country’s dependence on expensive fuel imports. But its passage confirms that the US relationship with India promises to be one of the US’ closest and strategically most important in the twenty-first century. As the US struggles with a financial crisis and quagmires in the Middle East and Central Asia, sealing this agreement with India may be one of the beleaguered Bush administration’s only enduring foreign policy accomplishments.
Shashi Tharoor, an acclaimed novelist and commentator, is a former under-secretary-general of the UN.
COPYRIGHT: PROJECT SYNDICATE
This story has been viewed 455 times.
nitesh
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Bush signs Indo-US nuclear bill
Bush signs Indo-US nuclear bill-USA-World-The Times of India
WASHINGTON: US President George W Bush on Wednesday signed into law the legislation to implement the historic Indo-US civil nuclear deal paving t
he way for the two countries to formally ink the 123 agreement on Friday.
In significant comments at the signing ceremony, Bush assured there will be no changes in fuel supply commitments as contained in the 123 Agreement. "India can count on reliable fuel supplies (from US) for its reactors," Bush said.
Bush inked the authorising legislation finally approved by the US Congress last week in a high profile ceremony at the White House's ornate East Room reversing 34 years of US policy to eventually allow American businesses to have a share of India's 100 billion dollar nuclear pie.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will formally sign the overall bilateral nuclear cooperation accord on Friday evening itself in a surprise announcement made by the State Department hours before Bush's signature on the implementing legislation.
"On Friday at 4 o'clock (0130 IST Saturday) the secretary will sign with the Indian foreign minister, Foreign Minister Mukherjee, the India Civil Nuclear Agreement," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.
"This follows on the president's signature today of implementing legislation in the United States," he added.
In a major foreign policy success, Bush put his signature on " H R 7081, United States- India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Non-proliferation Enhancement Act " in the presence of Vice-President Dick Cheney, Rice, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, Indian Ambassador to the US Ronen Sen, lawmakers, prominent members of the Indian American community and leading businessmen of the two countries.
Bush said the legislation makes no changes in the 123 Agreement and it does not affect fuel exchange and reprocessing.
The President thanked not only members of his administration, especially at the State Department and White House who worked to secure the deal, but also lawmakers and leaders of the Indian American community.
He especially appreciated Rice for her "hard work" in bringing the deal to fruition.
The Presidential action culminates a over three-year tumultous journey for the deal which faced opposition from lawmakers in both the two countries that also saw Left parties withdrawing support to the Manmohan Singh government. Bush and Singh approved the deal on July 18, 2005 during the Prime Minister's visit to Washington.
Calling the Indian prime minister as his "dear friend", Bush said India and the US are "natural partners" despite being physically separated half way through the globe.
Bush also spoke of advanced consent for reprocessing. Bush's assurances appears to have taken care of Indian concerns over issues relating to unhindered american fuel supplies and technology transfers for uranium enrichment.
The President said the 123 Agreement is consistent with the Atomic Energy Act.
Despite the deal coming under attack from its critics in the US, the Bush Administration has steadfastly maintained it is a very big boon to global non-proliferation.
Once Bush signs the authorizing legislation, he is required to certify that the agreement with India is consistent with U.S. obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, designed to limit the spread of nuclear weapons.
He must also certify that it is U.S. policy to cooperate with international efforts to further restrict transfers of technology related to uranium enrichment and the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel.
Three decades after US imposed a ban on civilian nuclear trade with India after latter's first nuclear test in 1974, American officials have said a new approach is needed to help the world's largest democracy meet its booming energy needs at a time of skyrocketing oil prices and global warming fears.
Rice during a visit to New Delhi last week called the accord "a recognition of India's emergence on the global stage".
"The president looks forward to signing this bill into law and continuing to strengthen the US-India Strategic Partnership," a White House official said hours before the signing ceremony
"This legislation will strengthen our global nuclear nonproliferation efforts, protect the environment, create jobs, and assist India in meeting its growing energy needs in a responsible manner," the official said.
Rice and others had to lobby hard to win approval for the deal from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which controls global atomic trade.
She also pushed hard for the agreement to be approved by both Houses of Congress.
The historic agreement could not be inked during Rice's day-long visit to India on October 4 as New Delhi insisted that it would do so only after seeing Bush's signing statement. India is expecting Bush to clear the American position on certain aspects like fuel supply assurances.
The bill was approved by the House of Representatives before the Senate gave its nod for it. It had bi-partisan support in both the House and Senate.
Bush signs Indo-US nuclear bill-USA-World-The Times of India
WASHINGTON: US President George W Bush on Wednesday signed into law the legislation to implement the historic Indo-US civil nuclear deal paving t
he way for the two countries to formally ink the 123 agreement on Friday.
In significant comments at the signing ceremony, Bush assured there will be no changes in fuel supply commitments as contained in the 123 Agreement. "India can count on reliable fuel supplies (from US) for its reactors," Bush said.
Bush inked the authorising legislation finally approved by the US Congress last week in a high profile ceremony at the White House's ornate East Room reversing 34 years of US policy to eventually allow American businesses to have a share of India's 100 billion dollar nuclear pie.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will formally sign the overall bilateral nuclear cooperation accord on Friday evening itself in a surprise announcement made by the State Department hours before Bush's signature on the implementing legislation.
"On Friday at 4 o'clock (0130 IST Saturday) the secretary will sign with the Indian foreign minister, Foreign Minister Mukherjee, the India Civil Nuclear Agreement," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.
"This follows on the president's signature today of implementing legislation in the United States," he added.
In a major foreign policy success, Bush put his signature on " H R 7081, United States- India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Non-proliferation Enhancement Act " in the presence of Vice-President Dick Cheney, Rice, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, Indian Ambassador to the US Ronen Sen, lawmakers, prominent members of the Indian American community and leading businessmen of the two countries.
Bush said the legislation makes no changes in the 123 Agreement and it does not affect fuel exchange and reprocessing.
The President thanked not only members of his administration, especially at the State Department and White House who worked to secure the deal, but also lawmakers and leaders of the Indian American community.
He especially appreciated Rice for her "hard work" in bringing the deal to fruition.
The Presidential action culminates a over three-year tumultous journey for the deal which faced opposition from lawmakers in both the two countries that also saw Left parties withdrawing support to the Manmohan Singh government. Bush and Singh approved the deal on July 18, 2005 during the Prime Minister's visit to Washington.
Calling the Indian prime minister as his "dear friend", Bush said India and the US are "natural partners" despite being physically separated half way through the globe.
Bush also spoke of advanced consent for reprocessing. Bush's assurances appears to have taken care of Indian concerns over issues relating to unhindered american fuel supplies and technology transfers for uranium enrichment.
The President said the 123 Agreement is consistent with the Atomic Energy Act.
Despite the deal coming under attack from its critics in the US, the Bush Administration has steadfastly maintained it is a very big boon to global non-proliferation.
Once Bush signs the authorizing legislation, he is required to certify that the agreement with India is consistent with U.S. obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, designed to limit the spread of nuclear weapons.
He must also certify that it is U.S. policy to cooperate with international efforts to further restrict transfers of technology related to uranium enrichment and the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel.
Three decades after US imposed a ban on civilian nuclear trade with India after latter's first nuclear test in 1974, American officials have said a new approach is needed to help the world's largest democracy meet its booming energy needs at a time of skyrocketing oil prices and global warming fears.
Rice during a visit to New Delhi last week called the accord "a recognition of India's emergence on the global stage".
"The president looks forward to signing this bill into law and continuing to strengthen the US-India Strategic Partnership," a White House official said hours before the signing ceremony
"This legislation will strengthen our global nuclear nonproliferation efforts, protect the environment, create jobs, and assist India in meeting its growing energy needs in a responsible manner," the official said.
Rice and others had to lobby hard to win approval for the deal from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which controls global atomic trade.
She also pushed hard for the agreement to be approved by both Houses of Congress.
The historic agreement could not be inked during Rice's day-long visit to India on October 4 as New Delhi insisted that it would do so only after seeing Bush's signing statement. India is expecting Bush to clear the American position on certain aspects like fuel supply assurances.
The bill was approved by the House of Representatives before the Senate gave its nod for it. It had bi-partisan support in both the House and Senate.
pkpatriotic
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Bush signs India civil nuclear legislation
By Anwar Iqbal
Thursday, 09 Oct, 2008
US President George W. Bush signs the United States-India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Non-proliferation Enhancement Act during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington October 8, 2008.
WASHINGTON: US President George W. Bush signed into law on Wednesday a bill allowing civilian nuclear trade and transfer of nuclear technology to India.
The bill has already been approved by both chambers of the US Congress.
The (agreement) will continue to strengthen the US-India strategic partnership, said a Bush's spokesman Carlton Carroll
This legislation will strengthen our global nuclear nonproliferation efforts, protect the environment, create jobs, and assist India in meeting its growing energy needs in a responsible manner.
US Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, and India's ambassador to Washington Ronen Sen attended the signing ceremony.
The agreement will allow the United States to sell India nuclear reactors and fuel for civil purposes. It will also allow transfer of nuclear technology to a nation which has not yet signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
The treaty prevents nuclear trade or transfer of technology to a non-signatory nation.
India, like Pakistan and Israel, has not only refused to sign the treaty but also has conducted nuclear tests and possesses atomic weapons.
Initially signed in July 2005, the India-US nuclear deal is a major milestone in the growing partnership between the two nations.
In August, the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency also unanimously approved the treaty. Finally, the Nuclear Suppliers Group of 45 countries, urged by the Bush administration to follow the IAEAs example, has also endorsed unconditional nuclear trade with India.
The deal is seen as Indias recognition as a nuclear power by the international community.
While Pakistan has not objected to the deal, it has urged the United States to allow similar arrangements with other nations with other nations as well.
The US, however, insists that the deal is India specific and cannot be replicated for other nations. US officials have made it clear that they are particularly reluctant to make a similar agreement with Pakistan because of the alleged involvement of its nuclear scientists in proliferation activities.
India, however, has not yet ratified the deal. The Indian press says that New Delhi refused to sign until President Bush has signed it and they can see what certifications and stipulations hes putting and whether hes going to address certain of their concerns.
Indian Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee leaves for Washington on Thursday for this purpose.
Mukherjee and US Secretary of State Condoleezza and will formally ink the implementation document known as the 123 agreement, on Friday. The pact will overturn the ban imposed on India after it conducted its first nuclear test in Pokhran in 1974.
By Anwar Iqbal
Thursday, 09 Oct, 2008
US President George W. Bush signs the United States-India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Non-proliferation Enhancement Act during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington October 8, 2008.
WASHINGTON: US President George W. Bush signed into law on Wednesday a bill allowing civilian nuclear trade and transfer of nuclear technology to India.
The bill has already been approved by both chambers of the US Congress.
The (agreement) will continue to strengthen the US-India strategic partnership, said a Bush's spokesman Carlton Carroll
This legislation will strengthen our global nuclear nonproliferation efforts, protect the environment, create jobs, and assist India in meeting its growing energy needs in a responsible manner.
US Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, and India's ambassador to Washington Ronen Sen attended the signing ceremony.
The agreement will allow the United States to sell India nuclear reactors and fuel for civil purposes. It will also allow transfer of nuclear technology to a nation which has not yet signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
The treaty prevents nuclear trade or transfer of technology to a non-signatory nation.
India, like Pakistan and Israel, has not only refused to sign the treaty but also has conducted nuclear tests and possesses atomic weapons.
Initially signed in July 2005, the India-US nuclear deal is a major milestone in the growing partnership between the two nations.
In August, the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency also unanimously approved the treaty. Finally, the Nuclear Suppliers Group of 45 countries, urged by the Bush administration to follow the IAEAs example, has also endorsed unconditional nuclear trade with India.
The deal is seen as Indias recognition as a nuclear power by the international community.
While Pakistan has not objected to the deal, it has urged the United States to allow similar arrangements with other nations with other nations as well.
The US, however, insists that the deal is India specific and cannot be replicated for other nations. US officials have made it clear that they are particularly reluctant to make a similar agreement with Pakistan because of the alleged involvement of its nuclear scientists in proliferation activities.
India, however, has not yet ratified the deal. The Indian press says that New Delhi refused to sign until President Bush has signed it and they can see what certifications and stipulations hes putting and whether hes going to address certain of their concerns.
Indian Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee leaves for Washington on Thursday for this purpose.
Mukherjee and US Secretary of State Condoleezza and will formally ink the implementation document known as the 123 agreement, on Friday. The pact will overturn the ban imposed on India after it conducted its first nuclear test in Pokhran in 1974.
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nitesh
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Overall it is a good deal. India can get the fuel it needs plus this deal clears way for trade in lot of dual use technologies. Now as Indian companies are already scouting for mining rights everywhere. So building a reserve should not be a problem.
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