Narendra Modi's nuclear takeaway from US, which Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi failed to get

Even though there were no big announcements in the vision statement released jointly after the dinner meeting between US president Barack Obama and prime minister Narendra Modi, India has succeeded to seek commitments from the US to jointly promote, universal, verifiable and non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament. The wording was actually incorporated in the Rajiv Gandhi Action Plan for Disarmament, which the late prime minister had presented to the UN General Assembly in 1988.

It appears that both countries have bridged their differences and found a middle path between the American's insistence to join nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) and India's call for a non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament. India has maintained that the NPT is discriminatory while the US constantly pressured India in the last three decades to sign the treaty.

Nuclear expert at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS) Rekha Chakravarthi explains that officially India always explained that it was a reluctant nuclear power, forced by international community's stand failing to proceed with universal disarmament and the deteriorating security vis-à-vis China and Pakistan. But the Americans never brought this argument and insisted India to come with some concrete commitments by agreeing to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and help in concluding a verifiable Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT). Also the US also insisted that at regional level, India should take an initiative to start a dialogue with China and Pakistan and take steps to reduce nuclear risks in the region. But so far China had refused to admit India a nuclear power, so there was no question of opening dialogue. Government sources, however, here said that there was a windows now available to put on table nuclear confidence building measures indicating that during the last days of the UPA-II, Beijing had agreed to admit India a nuclear power.

The vision statement read: "We will prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction, and remain committed to reducing the salience of nuclear weapons, while promoting universal, verifiable, and non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament." Experts here believe it is a major takeaway for Modi, who has got an admission from the Washington that discrimination exists in the global nuclear order, almost admitting India's argument on the NPT as well as on other global nuclear treaties like the CTBT. Further, by agreeing to "reducing the salience of nuclear weapons", the US President Obama has also departed from America's traditional contempt for the vision of India's former prime minister like Jawaharlal Nehru or Rajiv Gandhi for universal nuclear disarmament.

Another diplomatic take away for Modi is Obama reiterating his support to India for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. He had earlier made such declaration in 2010, but never followed it. "We will support an open and inclusive rules-based global order, in which India assumes greater multilateral responsibility, including in a reformed United Nations Security Council," the vision statement said. "At the UN and beyond, our close coordination will lead to a more secure and just world." India is contesting elections for a Security Council seat in 2021-22. It has already started enlisting support of member countries.

However, there was no agreement on how to progress on the 2005 civil nuclear deal, which is still in limbo. It was decided that both countries will establish an inter-agency contact group to sort out outstanding liability and technical issues to fast-track its full implementation.

From the Indian side, the inter-agency contact group will have representatives from the department of atomic energy, the ministry of external affairs and the finance ministry."They looked forward to advancing the dialogue to discuss all implementation issues, including but not limited to administrative issues, liability, technical issues, and licensing to facilitate the establishment of nuclear parks, including power plants with Westinghouse and GE-Hitachi technology," the statement said. Vikram Doraiswami, joint secretary (Americas), in the ministry of external Affairs, said the Contact Group will resolve the outstanding issues relating to nuclear trade between the two countries.