After weeks of intense diplomatic activity, India and the US have reached an agreement on implementation of the nuclear deal struck last year.
Addressing a joint press conference on Thursday, George Bush and Manmohan Singh announced that a “mutually satisfactory understanding” has been reached on carrying forward the nuclear cooperation agreement signed on July 18.
The separation of civilian and military nuclear facilities had been the main sticking point in implementing the deal. But chief negotiators Shyam Saran and Nicholas Burns, who had been burning midnight oil for the past few days, hammered out a last-minute deal.
Indeed there was a general feeling if Bush had nothing to show on the nuclear deal, his visit would be deemed a failure. But now that an agreement on separation of nuclear facilities has been announced with much fanfare, plenty still remains to be done.
For the nuclear agreement to be formalised three important hurdles need to be crossed. One, US Congress has to make amendments to American laws regarding non-proliferation.
Two, US has to get approval from the Nuclear Suppliers Group before the deal can come through. Finally, the IAEA needs to prepare India-specific safeguards, so that nuclear rules and regulations that apply to NPT countries won’t apply to India.
It is likely that approval by US Congress might prove to be the biggest hurdle. There is considerable opposition to the deal in Capitol Hill and the Bush administration will have to pull out all stops to get it through.
On Thursday, Bush sounded confident that he would be able to convince Congress about merits of the deal. At an earlier speech delivered at Asia Society and while briefing the press in New Delhi, Bush has been at pains to link the deal with his energy policy.
He has said that the nuclear deal with India would help reduce global oil prices and that it would lead to use of cleaner energy and a better environment.
This is recognition of the fact that in future India, along with China, will be one of the largest consumers of oil as well as the world’s biggest polluters. Whether this argument will wash with US Congress remains to be seen.
But as of now, Bush and Singh can bask in the glory of significantly furthering the nuclear agreement. The rest of Bush’s trip might well be reduced to a sideshow.
