Left or Right - The Nuclear Debate

The recent signing of the 123 Civil Nuclear Co-operation agreement between India & the USA seems to have finally snapped the already building tension between the ruling UPA government & their supporting Left parties. The spark seems to have ignited by the comments of Sean McCormack, the US Spokesman that the nuclear co-operation would be off if India conducted tests. And the Indian side of the story is that India was a sovereign nation and had the right to conduct tests.

The left(communist) parties led by Prakash Karat have come out with an ultimatum to the government asking them to stop negotiations with IAEA or else they would withdraw their support to the government. The government, in its part has been adamant in its stand and is going ahead with the negotiations with IAEA starting in September. This could mean the end of the government & that India could be headed for mid-term polls. This could be disastrous for the Indian economy as the kind of money which is spend on polls goes into crores of rupees. It would mean an unstable political scenario which could lead to the stock markets going down even further as an unstable political environment would drive the FII's away from the country. As it is, the stock markets are witnessing one of their worst meltdowns because of the US Sub-prime mess.

It is very much imperative for the overall welfare of the Indian economy that the government at the center complete its term. The nuclear agreement is actually going to do only good for India and strengthen its position as a nuclear powerhouse. Not only this, India would get to use technology which could be used to produce nuclear energy with clean fuel in return for allowing IAEA officials access to our nuclear facilities. So, this agreement promises much to the Indian cause. The left stand seems more to be on terms with their opposition to everything american. Their claims that this agreement is part of a larger US designs to impose their foreign policy on India is a little immature. Let's consider the situation that would arise if India were to conduct nuclear tests after the agreement is operationalized. India has claimed that the agreement would still be in place. However, there is some ambiguity as far as the US position is concerned. There are reports that claim the agreement could be called "off" in such a scenario. Yet, another report claims that the agreement would be in affect even in the event of a nuclear test by India. So, what happens if the agreement is "off". India would be in a situation it was before the agreement was signed. Nothing alarming as far as the country is concerned. Also, when the government is signing such an agreement, there is going to be no need to conduct tests in the first place.

Hopefully, common sense would prevail and we will see light at the end of this dark tunnel and that the welfare of the Indian citizen is kept first and foremost in mind of those concerned, whatever happens in this saga between the left and the government.