10 October 2008

U.S.-India Nuclear Agreement Strengthens Partnership, Rice Says

India sees agreement as a vital step in energy security

Secretary Rice, left, meets with Indian Foreign Minister Mukherjee.

By Merle D. Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer

Washington — The United States and India have signed an agreement that allows for the sale of nuclear technology, enhanced nonproliferation safeguards and a strengthened partnership.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Indian Minister of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee signed the U.S.-India civil nuclear agreement at the State Department in Washington October 10.

“It demonstrates the vast potential partnership between India and the United States, potential that, frankly, has gone unfulfilled for too many decades of mistrust, and now potential that can be fully realized,” Rice said before signing the agreement.

“What is most valuable about this agreement is how it unlocks a new and far broader world of potential for our strategic partnership in the 21st century, not just on nuclear cooperation but on every area of national endeavor.”

Mukherjee said the agreement the two signed will enhance Indian energy security and promote sustainable development while also addressing environmental challenges.

“In signing the agreement between India and the United States of America for cooperation on peaceful uses of nuclear energy, we have brought to fruition three years of extraordinary effort by both our governments,” Mukherjee said.

The legislation authorizing the agreement, which the Senate passed on October 1 by a vote of 86 to 13, was signed by President Bush on October 8 at the White House.  The House of Representatives passed the bill 298 to 117 September 28.

“The legislation will strengthen our global nuclear nonproliferation efforts, protect the environment, create jobs and assist India in meeting its growing energy needs in a responsible manner,” Bush said.

Under the agreement, India will gain access to U.S. nuclear technology for the first time since it conducted a nuclear weapons test in 1974.  Since that first nuclear test, India has been prohibited from worldwide nuclear trade, which left it without advanced uranium-enrichment and plutonium-reprocessing technology that is superior to its own processes.

The U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative will make ample energy resources a more likely possibility for the Indian people.  The nuclear accord also brings India into the nuclear nonproliferation mainstream; helps India meet its growing domestic energy needs while protecting the environment; and deepens the strategic partnership between many nations and India.

It reverses more than three decades of U.S. policy by permitting the shipping of nuclear fuel to India in return for international inspections of India’s civilian reactors.

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors met August 1 in Vienna to consider a draft safeguards agreement with India for its civilian nuclear energy development program.  The safeguards agreement won final IAEA approval, and then a separate agreement was approved in September by the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, which controls the trade of nuclear materials.

The nuclear accord requires India to open its civilian reactors to IAEA inspections and gives India access to the world market for nuclear fuel and technology.  The three-step approval process was made necessary because India is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which provides civil nuclear trade in exchange for a pledge from nations not to pursue nuclear weapons.

Currently, India imports 75 percent of its oil, and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has argued that India needs a stronger investment in nuclear energy generation.

India has four operating nuclear power reactors under IAEA safeguards.  Under the U.S.-India accord, India is committed to separate its military and civilian activities and submit its entire civil program to international inspection.

India will place under voluntary safeguards a majority of its existing and planned nuclear power reactors — 14 of 22 — and all of its future civil reactors.  Within a generation, it is estimated that nearly 90 percent of India’s reactors will be under IAEA safeguards.

The agreement between the United States and India will remain in force for 40 years and will continue in force for additional periods of 10 years unless either country gives notice to terminate it six months before the end of a period.  The agreement can be terminated before its expiration on a year’s written notice.