USA saves the day
So.... Bush is in India for the first time. Is this trip really about cooperation, or control? You be the judge.
March 2 (Bloomberg) -- Almost a tenth of India's economy was being murdered in the dark, strangled by power shortages. And then George W. Bush said, ``Let there be light.''
That, in a nutshell, is the thrust of a much-debated nuclear-energy agreement the U.S. president will be pursuing with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when the two leaders meet in New Delhi today.
After India allied itself with the Soviet Union and tested a ``peaceful'' nuclear device in 1974, the supply of technical assistance, reactors and heavy water it had received in the previous two decades from the U.S., the U.K., Canada and other countries, turned into a trickle.
While India has continued to develop warheads with indigenous raw materials and technology, the civilian nuclear program has suffered greatly because of the sanctions, which were tightened after India conducted underground fissile-material tests again in 1998.
An acute power crisis is all too visible in India.
Computer software companies in Bangalore keep enough generator fuel to last them a week, or longer, in case the overburdened power distribution network breaks down.
Domestic output of coal, which contributes to two-thirds of India's total power production, isn't keeping pace with demand. Gas is in short supply.
For India to break free from the restrictions placed on it by dismantling its nuclear-weapons program is not feasible.
There's considerable political and public support for maintaining a deterrent power against China and Pakistan, the two neighbors that possess nuclear bombs.
And ending the Indian nuclear-weapons program wouldn't help the U.S.'s aim of using India as a counterweight to the rising military might of China. (Andy Mukherjee is a columnist for Bloomberg News)
Anyhow...blah blah blah...the gist of it all is USA to the rescue. Here they come to save the day (notice my mighty mouse reference). As part of the movement to engage India, it will have to make several concessions such as submitting to inspections of its nuclear facilities by IAEA. Bottom line = USA getting its way! Question 1. Is this a good or bad thing? Or perhaps a bit of both! Question 2. How long will it be before Australia follows the U.S. lead and courts India a bit more? My guess ....not very long
posted by Bonyo @ 3:45 PM
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