India-US Nuclear Cooperation
This is a huge milestone for India, and a significant achievement by Manmohan Singh. I have a good deal of respect for that man, and so far he has not disappointed me in his leadership of the country.
Under the terms of the agreement, the US will share nuclear technologies with India, something which it has never done before with a country that does not accept international monitoring of it's nuclear facilities. India has agreed to monitoring of its civilian, but not military, nuclear complexes. It has also refused to sign on to the NPT, which requires such monitoring. Nevertheless Bush has signed the agreement, and it's now going to Congress for approval. It will face some opposition, but in the end I'm pretty sure it'll pass.
You can't blame India for not signing the NPT -- doing so is not going to get them anything that they have not been able to get without it, and it significantly restricts their development in a number of ways. India is not stupid. It knows that nuclear technology matters, but unlike Iran and North Korea, it has the backing and partnership of the US, which represents a huge edge. It now has access to not only nuclear technologies, but also advanced weapons systems. This also enhances their bid for a permanent seat on the Security Council, as the other contenders (Brazil and Japan) both have forgone the nuclear option. Oh, Musharraf is certainly unhappy right now.
The US of course is doing this in it's own interests. It knows that the only real counter-weight to China is India, and India is a lot friendlier to the US. It's in our interests to support and grow India's stature in the region as much as is reasonable in order to make China have to look over her shoulder. If she has to worry about two borders and two economies rather than just one, it will significantly hinder her ability to compete. Helping India also plays to the dynamics of power politics in South Asia. Despite press reports, I get the feeling that Bush is quite unhappy with the level of support that is being given to hunting down bin Laden in Pakistan, and this may be his way of shooting a warning shot at Musharraf.
Of course, if Musharraf gets toppled or killed, things will be much worse.
This is a huge milestone for India, and a significant achievement by Manmohan Singh. I have a good deal of respect for that man, and so far he has not disappointed me in his leadership of the country.
Under the terms of the agreement, the US will share nuclear technologies with India, something which it has never done before with a country that does not accept international monitoring of it's nuclear facilities. India has agreed to monitoring of its civilian, but not military, nuclear complexes. It has also refused to sign on to the NPT, which requires such monitoring. Nevertheless Bush has signed the agreement, and it's now going to Congress for approval. It will face some opposition, but in the end I'm pretty sure it'll pass.
You can't blame India for not signing the NPT -- doing so is not going to get them anything that they have not been able to get without it, and it significantly restricts their development in a number of ways. India is not stupid. It knows that nuclear technology matters, but unlike Iran and North Korea, it has the backing and partnership of the US, which represents a huge edge. It now has access to not only nuclear technologies, but also advanced weapons systems. This also enhances their bid for a permanent seat on the Security Council, as the other contenders (Brazil and Japan) both have forgone the nuclear option. Oh, Musharraf is certainly unhappy right now.
The US of course is doing this in it's own interests. It knows that the only real counter-weight to China is India, and India is a lot friendlier to the US. It's in our interests to support and grow India's stature in the region as much as is reasonable in order to make China have to look over her shoulder. If she has to worry about two borders and two economies rather than just one, it will significantly hinder her ability to compete. Helping India also plays to the dynamics of power politics in South Asia. Despite press reports, I get the feeling that Bush is quite unhappy with the level of support that is being given to hunting down bin Laden in Pakistan, and this may be his way of shooting a warning shot at Musharraf.
Of course, if Musharraf gets toppled or killed, things will be much worse.
posted by slithytoves at 11:25 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home