India chafing at U.S. nuclear restrictions and the price of being "non-aligned"

the seemingly smooth ride surrounding india's decision to abandon its non-aligned status and make its bed with the u.s. has evidently come to an end... given the u.s. penchant for making agreements in order to establish control mechanisms over the other party, this was probably inevitable...

The chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) has sent shock waves through the Indian establishment by accusing the United States of ''changing the goalpost'' while finalising a far-reaching, one-of-its-kind nuclear cooperation deal with India, initialled last July.

[...]

Anil Kakodkar, head of the AEC, which runs both the civilian and military nuclear programmes of India, told the 'Indian Express' newspaper in an exclusive interview published Monday that he interprets the Jul. 18 agreement to mean that the determination of which facilities are civilian and which are military ''has to be made by the Indians. India's strategic interests will have to be decided by India and not by others.''

The U.S., however, wants a say in deciding the civilian-military separation. Negotiators, led by assistant secretary of state Nicholas Burns, have told India that for the separation to be 'credible', the civilian list must include all facilities, including experimental and research installations, which are not directly related to nuclear weapons.

[...]

Kakodkar made his statement without prior authorisation from the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's office, which has been dealing directly with the India-US nuclear issue. His interview confirms what has long been known: the AEC was extremely uncomfortable with the nuclear deal, and was dragged, kicking and screaming, into endorsing it. It is now confronting Manmohan Singh.

Submit To Propeller
Tweet