Indo US N-deal

Today I have come up with a very hot and burning topic of Indo-US nuclear deal. In the following paragraphs, I would try to make you familiar with N- deal, its pros and cons etc. Although I don't know much about it but still I hope that my friends will give me negative feedback so as to make the blog more informative and useful. Also it may be that it may prove its worth when you are appearing for GD or interview. That's why I have compiled this post for you.

What this N-Deal is exactly ?

The legislation amends Section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 of US. It lets the US make a one-time exception for India to keep its nuclear weapons without signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).The amendment overturns a 30-year-old US ban on supplying India with nuclear fuel and technology, implemented after India's first nuclear test in 1974.

How to complete the deal ?

The basis of the deal is 123 agreement. So lets see what is this 123 agreement ?
The 123 Agreement, as it has come to be called (after Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act, under which it falls), would have to be signed by both governments before it became operational.

DEAL IS OVER FROM US PART :
The Henry J. Hyde US-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006(in short it is also called HYDE ACT) was ratified by both houses of Congress and signed into law by President Bush in December 2006. Thus, from the US side, it is considered a done deal.

DEAL NEEDS TO APPROVED IN TOO :
The deal still needs clearances from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board of governors and the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Then the deal would have to go to the US Congress for final approval. Then the deal would be considered as over.

Now the question arises that why there has been so much panic and unrest over this deal. Some veterans call N-deal a "Notorious deal", sometimes "Never deal" and sometimes the same N deal as "Nuclear deal".What is all this ? Why LEFT parties are agog with apposing the deal ? Why they are continuously goading the running alliance ? And why the ruling party is still willing to go ahead with the deal keeping the uncertainty of fissures with its coalitions parties on the top of the sword ? WHY ??
Lets peep into the matter of "why" by first looking at the disadvantages of the deal and then advantages of the deal :

Disadvantages :

POLITICAL VIEWS
1. The deal cannot be used as a substitute for oil.The Left claims the deal, which gives India access to US nuclear fuel and technology, would damage India's independent foreign policy and security
2। SP( समाजवादी पार्टी) has been opposing the nuclear deal on the ground that it was against the interest on the country and meant succumbing to the US pressure.

GENERAL VIEWS
1. There is a huge capital investment to build the plants
2. There is a lot of red tape to get through to get licensed (which is actually a good thing because the plants are safer that way),
3. There is the nuclear waste issue. The disposal of nuclear wastes is a challenging job as we have studied it in class 9, I guess !

Advantages :

POLITICAL VIEWS
1. "US would use the deal to compromise India's foreign policy.The deal wasn't just about dealing with Washington; it would open the gates for nuclear trade with countries like France and Russia" Lalu said.
2."It sought to give India the means to power a rapid pace of economic development with relatively clean nuclear technology and reduced dependence on coal and oil", Manmohan Singh.

GENERAL VIEWS
1.It signified a major shift in US-India relations that could herald a strategic realignment and many such future deals
2.Given the frequency of militarised disputes in South Asia, this could be important. A more robust Indian nuclear capability could help the US and India balance against a rising China
3.We all know how deficient the country is in total energy as well in electricity.(11 % Inflation rate has proved it!) We have a lot of coal, but it has a very high content of ash (which requires technology and capital to improve it) and is a serious environmental problem. Meanwhile we import better quality of coal from Australia.Obviously, nuclear energy is a better solution to cope with the energy crisis.
4.We have an ambitious plan to build 20,000MW of nuclear power by 2020. But our indigenous uranium reserves can support, at best, a capacity of only 10,000MW. China and Japan are expecting 50000 MW power capacity at the end of 2020.So why we, Indians should remain the loser in this race ?
5.We have never had any problem with placing civil nuclear power reactors under IAEA inspection system (Tarapur was voluntarily placed under such inspection in 1993 when our treaty obligations expired). The two Russian supplied reactors near Chennai are under IAEA inspections, and so are the Kota reactors.
The point is that we have an efficient autonomous capability to manufacture nuclear weapons and the facilities for this all would obviously not be placed under any international oversight. But the civil nuclear power reactors built with any international cooperation component would have to be under IAEA inspection and it is crazy to claim that this jeopardises our security.

So, I think with these points one can conclude that what is good and what is bad for us. In my viewpoint, there is no harm in shaking the hand with US as the benefits are more and better than the limitations. If one keep on crying the possible shortcomings of a project then we can never commence with it. Keeping in view the future of India after 20-30 years, I think it is the prime time to go ahead with Nuclear deal. If now , we'll not go for it then may be that LEFT will win over Congress or we may not face early polls but our coming generations will surely curse us for being too much diplomatic and autocratic for them. It has become a matter of dignity for political parties but I think, they must first understand that its INDIA FIRST not their politics.