Pallab Bhattacharya
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invite to heads of Government and state of South Asian countries to his swearing in was premised on the assumption that New Delhi’s quest for key international player must begin in its own backyard.
Taking an equally important step towards that was the Government’s announcement of the decision to ratify an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to expand the supervision of its civilian nuclear programme.
The decision to ratify the Additional Protocol , which had been hanging fire for the last five years, is expected not only to take India closer towards integration with the world nuclear commerce but is also aimed at showing that the country was a responsible atomic power. India had committed to signing the Additional Protocol under the Indiaspecific safeguards agreement signed with IAEA in 2009 as part of efforts to unblock the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement signed five years prior to that.
The Protocol will facilitate greater oversight by IAEA inspectors of India’s 20 non-military nuclear facilities which have been thrown open to the international nuclear watchdog. This is also significant because India is not a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), that seeks to curb the spread of nuclear weapons, and its military nuclear programme is not subject to IAEA supervision.
Secondly, the decision to ratify the Protocol is also likely to smoothen the way for India becoming a member of an elite group of 45 nuclear power countries under the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG). Significantly, the timing of the announcement of the decision to ratify the Protocol came just days ahead of the NSG meeting in Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires. India’s joining the NSG will not give it access to sophisticated nuclear equipment but also protect its core strategic interests in the field.
But far more importantly from the point of view of larger international political scenario, the decision to approve the Protocol was intended to send signals to the United States ahead of Modi’s visit to that country in September to attend the U N General Assembly session and possibly to meet President Barack Obama.
The decision indicates Bharatiya Janata Party’s nod to the Indo-US civil nuclear deal which Modi’s predecessor Manmohan Singh had described as the most significant feat of his ten-year tenure as Prime Minister.
It will also come as a reaffirmation of India’s new Government’s commitment to the deal. After all, it was at the behest of the US that IAEA had in March, 2007 cleared the India-specific safeguards agreement and the consequent Additional Protocol for India despite New Delhi not being a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which India has since long junked as “discriminatory”. The Indo- US nuclear agreement had provided that India would ratify the additional protocol with the United Nations nuclear watchdog.
The ratification of the additional protocol of IAEA once again drives home the point that India’s nuclear policy is transparent and it is a responsible nuclear power which has nothing to hide.
Agreeing to allow supervision of its civil nuclear projects and the data of its nuclear exports to IAEA oversight is the best demonstration of India’s unflinching commitment to non-proliferation and its clean in the area despite not being a signatory to NPT.
It will also answer critics of India’s nuclear programme that the pact with the IAEA fails to address concerns of proliferation as India could get its foot in the door of a club of countries which trade in nuclear materials.
The ratification of the protocol is aimed at unlocking the potential of tens billions of dollars in international investment in India’s nuclear power sector as the world’s third largest economy, guzzling conventional energy like oil, gas and coal and hydel power, looks for energy security and fight climate change.
Nuclear power is expected to be a significant component of India’s search for energy security and ratification of the protocol is expected to pave the way for nuclear technology and uranium for civilian purposes. Following the NSG’s waiver granted to India to sign the India-US civil nuclear deal, Britain, France, Russia, Argentina, South Korea, Namibia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan have over the years signed bilateral agreements with India for bilateral civil nuclear cooperation. Uranium-rich countries like Australia, Canada, Mongolia and Kazakhstan are looking at the lucrative nuclear power market in India as are the US, Japan and France eyeing to export advance nuclear power technology. Nuclear energy is one of the high priority areas which can bring about a paradigm shift in relations between Japan and India, going beyond trade and investment and encompassing strategic aspects in view the two countries’ convergence about an assertive China militarily.
However, ratifying the protocol is just one major step towards India’s full integration with the world nuclear order and recognition of a nuclear-weapon country. Hurdles in the way of India’s integration remain, particularly in the form of its Nuclear Liability Law that has raised the hackles of the multinational companies of the US, Japan and France which supply the technology. The Law puts the onus on suppliers of such technology in the event of a nuclear accident which countries like the US, France and Japan object to. So, there is a much longer journey for India beyond the protocol.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel