India ups ante as deal goes to Congress

Govt says it will turn to other nations if 123 accord falls

NEW DELHI: Hours after the Bush administration forwarded the Indo-US nuclear deal to Congress on Wednesday, India reminded Washington of business interests at stake and also that it would go ahead and sign bilateral agreements with other nuclear suppliers if the 123 agreement failed to cross the final hurdle.

Though India hasn’t spelt it out, the foreign ministry, in a statement issued on Thursday, subtly hinted that the US Congress better get its act together fast because India wasn’t willing to wait indefinitely.

Foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee, meanwhile, tried to ally fears within India. He told a magazine that nothing prevented New Delhi from signing agreements for nuclear trade with countries other than the US and it would like to do it “as early as possible”. His remarks assume significance in the context of secretary of state Condoleezza Rice urging India not to “disadvantage” US by doing nuclear trade with other countries before Congress approves the nuke deal.

For the detractors in the US, India held out the promise of lucrative deals worth billions of dollars for American companies, indirectly urging US lawmakers to allow the up and down vote on the 123 agreement at the earliest.

“We have informed the USA about our intent to source state-of-the-art nuclear technologies and facilities based on the provisions of the 123 Agreement from the US,” foreign ministry spokesperson Navtej Sarna said in a statement on Thursday.
“While actual cooperation will commence after bilateral agreements like the 123 agreement come into force, the Nuclear Power Cooperation of India has already commenced a preliminary dialogue with US companies in this regard,” Sarna said. 

Sarna also reiterated that the “government is also moving towards finalising bilateral agreements with other friendly partner countries such as France and Russia”.

Considering that the non-proliferation lobby will be extremely active again, warning Congressmen of the dangers of allowing India access to nuclear technologies and fuel, the foreign ministry statement is also an attempt to help the Bush administration to get the deal through in this short session of Congress.

Former Indian ambassador to Washington, Naresh Chandra, explained this in much clearer terms. “It is very important for the US lawmakers to know that this will benefit American firms. There are no free lunches in today’s world and if India is being rewarded, the US has to also gain,” he said.

Technically, after the NSG waiver, India can do business with any other country it wishes but indications are that New Delhi will wait till the 123 agreement is vetted in the US Congress.

Clarifying his earlier statement, Mukherjee said: “I said that 123 agreement is not complete till it is ratified by US Congress. So, we have to wait till the whole process is finalised before we can do nuclear trade with the US. Theoretically, nothing prevents us from signing up with other countries.”