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| India-Pakistan | |
| U.S.- India Nuclear Deal Drifts Dangerously | |
| 2011-07-18 | |
| Hailed as the centerpiece of a new partnership between the world's two most populous democracies, the U.S.-India nuclear deal has drifted dangerously since it was signed in 2008, analysts and former negotiators from both countries say. The risk now is that other countries, particularly Russia and France, might benefit from all the hard work that the United States put into the deal,
The deal itself, symbolic of a new partnership between the two countries, is not in any political danger. But American companies have not yet sold any reactors or equipment to India. American nuclear fuel firms, which face no legal or policy hurdles, have also not begun selling to India. Singh put his government's survival on the line to pass the deal. But in a country still scarred by the Bhopal gas disaster of 1984, he was powerless to prevent the passage last August of a law that would make suppliers of nuclear equipment liable for massive claims in the event of a nuclear accident during the reactor's life. That raises the risk of doing business in India to levels that American private-sector companies and their insurers cannot accept, but state-backed companies in Russia and France, with the much deeper pockets of their respective governments, might be able to live with. And it puts India far out of step with other countries, which put liability solely on plant operators. Despite India's intention to join an international treaty that would restrict liability claims on suppliers, U.S. companies and their insurers are worried that Indian law would still take precedent, and corporate officials are adamant that the law needs to be changed before they could do business here. The question is whether Singh, now on the defensive over corruption charges, can amend that legislation. So while General Electric and U.S.-based, Japanese-owned Westinghouse Electric sit on the sidelines, France's Areva and Russia's Rosatom are already moving ahead in inking deals to build reactors in India. There are other hurdles, too. New Delhi has not yet given an assurance to Washington that Indian private companies will not re-transfer American nuclear technology and information to others, a requirement under U.S. law. And before India can buy American and French reactors, New Delhi also has to sign a nuclear cooperation agreement with Japan. Those reactors use parts and technology from Japan, which cannot be supplied until Japan changes its law to allow nuclear trade with India. The situation became more complicated last month when the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group in the Hague voted to bar access to sensitive uranium enrichment and reprocessing technology which can be used to make atomic bombs to countries that have not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty. | |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #1 It's 'cuz we got smart diplomacy or sometin' like tat. Wre number 1! |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2011-07-18 15:47 |