Nuclear deal - a failed success?

Government has won the confidence vote and we can now see the nuclear deal pass but in probably the most utterly forgettable fashion. The cabinet’s ambivalence was clearly evident and the goings on in the Lok Sabha were not exactly cheerful. But has the government managed to secure the more important asset than even the nuclear deal, the people’s faith? Nuclear deal or no nuclear deal, current government will go in history as being very opaque even notorious on various occasions as regards safeguards agreement. Why did the ministry decline to release the contents of the safeguard’s agreement to the public when IAEA itself did not pose any restrictions whatsoever, giving an impression that they are just somehow muddling through?

Opposition’s double-standards were quintessential BJP – making every possible allegation to quash the deal. One comment was, “UPA is doing injustice to the Muslim vote-bank by supporting US (and thereby Bush) who has been a cause of misery to Iraq – a Muslim country – and to the innocent Saddam Hussain. This deal is inherently evil”. Why did then Jaswant Singh remark that “This deal is our [NDA’s] baby. Why should UPA act in such urgency vis-à-vis the safeguards agreement”? This smacks of power mongering with utter disregard to nation’s goodwill.

Left had good intentions, they rightfully backed-off. I like this politics in which our leaders are putting country first. They drew our attention to the particularly hazardous outcomes of the nuclear deal and the fact that several nations including US, Germany are loathe to having new nuclear power plants for civilian energy purposes. But their fears for the country, becoming a US henchman with this strategic alliance thereby compromising national sovereignty, are unfounded. The most obvious outcome, they argue, could be a terrorist backlash against India due to its wholehearted support to Bush’s regime.

Terrorism is the most potent challenge world over, but this bull has to be taken by its horns. No country can afford a strategy of avoidance over prevention against terrorism. By not going along with US we are not sure to be spared by the terrorist organizations simply because India has been a perpetual target way before even the 9/11. Post 9/11 the terrorist organizations have found a more pressing agenda but India has never been outside their radar. Hence, India cannot afford not to enter this alliance simply because it might prick the terrorist fraternity.

Overall, I am not exactly unhappy that India has managed to take the nuclear deal to the next level, which is a very progressive mindset to meet our energy requirements in the long run (the next 50 years). But our governance has major challenges:
1. Policy making is easy, implementation is tough. Nuclear fuel is potential hazardous if not dealt with high standards of security. A country of billion people cannot afford a Chernobyl in the making here.
2. We are very close to the terrorist warheads; the archetypical enemies of the world are next door to us. I leave the potential disasters of nuclear fuel finding their hands to everybody’s imagination.
3. India’s strategic alliance with US does not and must not mean that we support US for the terrible war crimes in Afghanistan or their wholehearted support to Israel against Iran, which has brought these countries on the brink of a war. And this should be clearly spelled out to the international community.