India - US Nuclear Deal

N. Korean Missiles May Ease Indo-US Nuclear Deal 6 July 2006
By Praful Bidwai
The India-US nuclear deal has already passed successfully through the US
Congress’ foreign relations committees, but domestic opposition from both
the left and right in India is strengthening. The deal still awaits
approval from the Nuclear Suppliers' Group, an informal association of
governments seeking to control the spread of nuclear technology. But the
North Korean missile tests could help the US and Indian governments to
pass this hurdle too, warns Bidwai.

India Exposed by Dud Missile, Space Vehicle Crash 12 July 2006
By Praful Bidwai
The failure, in rapid succession, of a satellite launcher and a new
ballistic missile have shown up the technological and budgetary
difficulties faced by India’s civilian and military space establishment,
writes Bidwai.

Ready to collude with empire? 1 July 2006
By Praful Bidwai
The Indian elite’s lovefest with the US amidst the Iraq quagmire bodes ill
for the country’s future, writes Bidwai.

Indo-US Nuclear Deal Clears First Hurdle 29 June 2006
By Praful Bidwai
With the US House of Representatives’ International Relations Committee passing a draft bill to allow resumption of civilian nuclear commerce between India and the US, there is a clear path for further approvals in the full House of Representatives, writes Bidwai. India will thus be enabled to expand its nuclear power generation, but also
divert imported uranium for military uses, the critics say.

Testing Times for Indo-US Nuclear Deal 17 June 2006
By Praufl Bidwai
In spite of Indian-American groups as well as the Indian government's
lobbying to garner support for the Indo-US nuclear deal, there is
significant opposition to the deal in the House of Representatives and
from the US non-proliferation experts, writes Bidwai.

India, US Tighten Nuclear Handshake 27 May 2006
By Praful Bidwai
The United States and India have taken yet another step toward finalising the nuclear cooperation agreement they signed in July last year, consolidating their "strategic partnership" designed to contain China, writes Bidwai.

Indo-US Nuclear Deal Takes Flak, No Eject Option 6 April 2006
By Praful Bidwai
Recent developments suggest the India-US nuclear deal might fail to get US Congress approval, which would grievously affect the India-US relationship. Even if the deal goes through, it is likely to face opposition later in the year from the 45-state Nuclear Suppliers' Group, warns Bidwai, especially from Japan, China, Germany, South Africa, Brazil and Argentina. The Indian government has no fall-back strategy to cope with the deal's possible collapse.

India: The Deadly Embrace of the US February 2006
By Achin Vanaik
How times have changed. India, once considered 'the most non-aligned of the non-aligned countries', is now on the way to being a most favoured ally of the US.

Indo-U.S. love-fest 25 March 2006
By Praful Bidwai
Faced with eroding public support because of its elitist policies, the Congress party will be left with difficult choices between left- and right-leaning options, says Bidwai.

India in Neocon embrace? 4 March 2006
By Praful Bidwai
Bush’s visit to India was meant to consolidate the growing US-India partnership, epitomized by the recent nuclear deal. While the majority of the higher strata of Indian society see benevolently the US and its relationship to India, India’s poor, who constitute a majority, are not that enthusiastic, writes Bidwai.

Nuclear Glitches Apart, Bush Set to Alter Indo-US Ties 1 March 2006
By Praful Bidwai
To build a global empire, the US needs a system of alliances that will neutralise rivals. The latest developments around the US-Indian nuclear deal should be seen in this light. It is tragic, though, that India should demolish its independent policies and institutions at the altar of a ‘strategic partnership’ with the US, deplores Bidwai.

India plays the Russia card in its nuclear poker 16 March 2006
By Praful Bidwai
Hot on the heels of its landmark "nuclear co-operation" agreement with the US, which allows New Delhi to keep its nuclear weapons, India has entered into a controversial deal with Russia for the supply of nuclear fuel for two civilian power reactors. The deal may well spoil the pitch for the ratification of the India-US agreement by the US Congress, comments Bidwai.

Barking up the wrong tree 18 March 2006
By Praful Bidwai
The domestic consequences of Indian foreign policy's radical re-orientation in favour of the US are unfolding, with growing popular disenchantment with the United Progressive Alliance government, and the polarization of public opinion, writes Bidwai.

No clear reason 25 February 2006
By Praful Bidwai
The real argument against the India-US nuclear deal is not that it will cap India's arsenal, but that it will sanctify these arms and undermine disarmament, argues Bidwai.

The Day After: Fallout of a deeply disturbing deal 11 March 2006
By Praful Bidwai
Washington's main motive behind the India-US nuclear deal is to co-opt an emerging power, gain entry into its sizable market, build a counterweight to China and Iran, and integrate India into its global scheme as a junior partner. The deal spells erosion of many independent options for India, and could still be rejected by the Congress, leaving Indian policy-makers without an exit-clause, warns Bidwai.

Statement on Indo-US Nuke Deal by Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (India) 11 March 2006

Snags Surface in India-US Nuclear Deal 6 February 2006
By Praful Bidwai
For the 'pragmatists' in India's pro-bomb lobby, the US-India nuclear deal is an opportunity to get India recognised as a nuclear weapons state, while nuclear ultra-nationalists claim the deal is a US attempt to limit India's nuclear arsenal and compromise her sovereignty. If the nuclear deal falls through because of the conflict between nuclear ultra-nationalists and pragmatists, the peace movement would become an unintended beneficiary of its collapse, writes Bidwai.

Sacrificing sovereignty 28 January 2006
By Praful Bidwai
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's weak response to the US fatwas, his pro-Western stand on Iran, and his decision to divest Mani Shankar Aiyar of the Petroleum Ministry speak of a new willingness to kowtow to Washington, comments Bidwai.

Bumpy Ride for Indo-US Nuclear Deal 26 January 2006
By Praful Bidwai
The "nuclear co-operation" agreement signed six months ago in Washington by United States President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has run into trouble over the separation of India's civilian installations from the military. Anyway, the agreement represents an unprecedented challenge to the global nuclear non-proliferation order, as it proposes a one-time exception for India under, which will breed resentment across the globe, above all in Iran, predicts Bidwai.

Delusions of equality 28 January 2006
By Praful Bidwai
India and Pakistan like to propagate the idea that their relations with the US are on terms of equality. However, the unilateral US bombing of a village in Pakistan, allegedly targeting terrorists, as well as the US' stance in its nuclear agreement with India shows very different relations.

Nuclear Clouds Gather Over Asia 26 December 2006
By Praful Bidwai
The US's inconsistent non-proliferation criteria could alter the strategic balance in some of the world's most volatile regions, argues Praful Bidwai. The US is currently talking tough on Iran, softening its attitude to North Korea, and treating India as a 'responsible nuclear power', whilst taking an uncertain stand on Japan's possible nuclear build-up. Bidwai predicts two new arms races in Asia - one between Japan and China, and the other between China and India.

Indian Nuclear Deal With US Turns Faustian Bargain 17 November 2005
By Praful Bidwai

India's Nuclear Albatross 24 September 2005
By Praful Bidwai
New Delhi deluded itself that it scored a coup by signing the July nuclear deal with Washington. It must now confront a bitter truth: ‘normalising’ its nuclear weapons will entail erosion of its policy independence in various different fields. The crisis over Iran’s nuclear programme is the starkest example.

The Significance of the New India-US Framework Agreement on Defence 20 July 2005
By Achin Vanaik
The real meaning of the "New Framework for the US-India Defence relationship" becomes clear once one situates it in the wider historical, political and strategic context that emerges and evolves in the post-Cold War situation - that of a US out to establish an informal global imperium and looking for 'partners' to fulfil this project. Vanaik calls for the Indian left to stand firm in its opposition to both US imperialism and to global and regional nuclearisation, and oppose this kind of agreement.

Sanctifying Atomic Apartheid 30 July 2005
By Praful Bidwai
By signing a nuclear cooperation deal with Washington, India has set its
face firmly against nuclear disarmament and become America's junior
partner - for dubious gains. This betrays the UPA government's solemn
promise to work for global nuclear weapons abolition, writes Bidwai.

Grand bargain or capitulation? 24 July 2005
By Praful Bidwai
The nuclear agreement that the Indian Prime Minister signed with the US
has been euphorically called "historic" and a milestone. But Bidwai argues
that this "grand bargain" could turn out to be a hollow deal based on
India's capitulation to the great-power-by-shortcut delusion.