Saturday, September 24 2005 11:23 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

What is the July 18, 2005 US-India deal all about?

Under the July 18, 2005 agreement, the US administration reverses a nearly 30-year-old policy by agreeing to work with Congress to amend US non-proliferation laws to allow civilian nuclear trade with India. The US also agreed to work with NSG members to find a way to allow nuclear technology sales to India.

What did India agree to do as per the July 18, 2005 deal?

India agreed to separate its civilian and military nuclear facilities and then put all civilian nuclear facilities under international safeguards. India also agreed to behave exactly as the five recognized nuclear powers are required to do under the NPT. This means that India will work with the United States to negotiate a verifiable Fissile Material Control Treaty and maintain its voluntary moratorium on not testing.

India has also agreed to strengthen its export controls and to ensure that the sensitive materials and technologies exported to it or its indigenously developed materials and technologies do not get into the hands of terrorists.

Finally, India has also agreed to sign an 'additional protocol' with the IAEA which would permit more intrusive inspections of safeguarded Indian facilities. This is to assure foreign suppliers that their exports will be used only in the safeguarded facilities and for civilian purposes only. The safeguards will also ensure that there is no diversion of this foreign technology to the Indian weapons facilities.

Why did the US administration make this decision?

The US administration recognized that despite its isolation, India has showed exemplary behaviour by not proliferating nuclear or missile technology. Given India's growing economic stature and technological capabilities, and acknowledging the reality of India's nuclear weapons, the US administration felt that it was no longer useful to ostracize India. In fact, there are reasons to believe that the continuation of the old policy might be counter-productive for US security and non-proliferation goals.

Does the nuclear deal mean that India is rewarded for violating laws?

This is not a valid argument. India did not violate any treaty, it simply did not sign the NPT based on a principled position. Indeed, it has strictly upheld the export-restraint rules of the NPT while being a non-member.

Why does India need nuclear technology?

India needs energy to keep up its 6-8% growth rate. Currently nuclear energy supplies are just 3% of India's needs. Without nuclear power, India will be forced to burn coal and other fossil fuels to meet its energy needs, which would cause more environmental pollution. What India needs therefore are many nuclear power plants and plenty of Uranium to fuel them.

India has a lot of coal deposits. Why cannot India just ask for clean burning coal technology from the US instead of nuclear reactors?

Even with clean burning coal technology, which is very expensive, the magnitude of India's energy needs would result in massive pollution. In addition, India will be forced to mine for its low-grade domestic coal in large quantities, which is a dangerous and polluting activity in itself. Nuclear power on the other hand is renewable and lasts for a long time. India therefore needs a judicious mix of nuclear, oil and coal power.