Posts Tagged ‘NPT’

Chinese takeaway : Indo US 123.

15 January 2008

Indian Express Editorial (IEE) today reads an important political triumph for Dr. Man Mohan Singh in the simple joint declaration made in Beijing on Monday, “as two countries with advanced scientific capabilities, the two sides pledge to promote bilateral cooperation in civil nuclear energy, consistent with their respective international commitments”. It further adds, “By injecting real strategic content into Sino-Indian relations, he has at once underwritten the enduring independence of India’s foreign policy and improved the prospects for the implementation of the nuclear deal with the United States.” IEE has always been extremely supportive of Indo US nuclear deal and believes it would usher in the dawn of secure nuclear energy future for India, and help her take the high table along with other major powers on the world stage.


IEE concludes that China has recognized India as a de facto nuclear weapon state by virtue of the above referred ‘simple joint declaration’. Same punditry had crowed earlier that the preamble in 123 agreement – AFFIRMING that cooperation under this Agreement is between two States possessing advanced nuclear technology, both Parties having the same benefits and advantages, both committed to preventing WMD proliferation; – bestowed the same distinction on India. Since Russia, Britain & France had already endorsed the Indo-US agreement, the falling in line by China, it asserts, heralds the final vindication that 123 agreement is good for India, good for USA, good for ‘other’ Nuclear weapons states, and finally good for the world.


If India is indeed recognised as the de facto Nuclear weapons state by big 5, then why hide behind the ‘innocuous’ sounding euphemisms like “advanced nuclear technology” or “advanced scientific capabilities”? Why not call a spade a spade? USA is very much doing whatever it wants with the world today, even at times going against the wishes of Russia, China & may be France. Then, when all big 5 are in agreement with each other on India being a de facto nuclear weapons state, why are they squeamish about declaring so openly?


Answer is simple. It is a trap to ensnare India, which has steadfastly refused to sign the NPT & CTBT treaties. It is also an artifice to trick Indian people and camouflage the sell out on nuclear independence.    NPT & CTBT were expressly structured to keep the exclusive club of nuclear weapons states (NWS) exclusive. The 5 NWS are also at present the 5 permanent members of UN Security Council and even if the council is expanded their pre-eminence is unchallenged.


So, first fact to be acknowledged is that 5 NWS are first among ‘equals’. The second fact to be recognised is that 4 NWS have to live with USA being first among ‘first-equals’ in that exclusive club. The jostling for power among the big 5 will continue and equations may change in future, but this is the reality at the moment. If China had any serious reservations about the hidden & adverse implications of the Indo US cooperation to its own strategic interests, then it would not have limited itself to only making some perfunctory noises. The Indo US agreement has had their (big 4) tacit concurrence all along & what China did earlier was necessary diplomatic posturing to make it appear otherwise. Both at IAEA & NSG stage China & others would have had the opportunity to derail the agreement. Yet, USA has all along been confident of carrying the day at both forums. Do we need more proof of collusion now?


The objectives attained by big 5 are obvious.

1.     Deny India the opportunity to test, refine & mature the Nuclear Weapons technology.

2.     Open up the Indian nuclear power market to principally US nuclear reactor manufacturers, who have not delivered a single reactor in past 30 years, and may be to others like Russia, France etc.

3.     Derail the Thorium based reactor research & development program pursued by India independently & thereby deny India nuclear energy independence that is realizable because of plentiful indigenous availability of thorium deposits.

4.     Strangle India’s nuclear ambitions, peaceful or otherwise, by subjugating it to the most powerful cartel of nuclear suppliers group.


Anyone who referred to Russia, China while making a point about India was lambasted as anti-national, communist stooge, or a down right moron. The very people who were in the forefront of such witch hunt earlier, one finds now a days swearing by the testimony of same ‘discredited’ sources. The Indo US 123 agreement is good. Why? Don’t you see even the Chinese like it?


Anybody for this Chinese takeaway?



End piece : Prakash Karat, CPI(M) general secretary, was reported to have said, “…..any agreement with US that aims at encircling & containing China will not be acceptable to us……” This was attributed to his speech in Kolkatta commemorating the 90th anniversary of Russian October revolution. Knowing the self-serving penchant of media to distort & twist facts beyond recognition, I called my friends in CPI(M) Pune and emailed the editor of “Peoples Democracy” to obtain the text of full speech. Despite reminders I failed to secure the same. If CPI(M) were to change its stand now on Indo US nuclear deal after what IEE describes as a resounding Chinese endorsement, I would be pursued to draw unfavourable conclusions about it.