The nuke deal is dead
The Indo-US Nuke Deal
The UPA government’s external pillar of support and its most vocal and vitriolic critic, the Communists, are the most vociferous opponents of the Indo-US Nuke Deal. The UPA cannot hope for them to continue supporting the government even while the government itself signs on the dotted line and operationalises what the left perceives to be a deal with the devil.
The UPA tried to delay operationalisation till a suitable time when it could sign the deal and then announce snap elections a year in advance. They hoped to catch the left in the unenviable spot of having to face an election on foreign policy issues, something that isn’t known to be a winning formula, especially for parties that pull rugs from beneath governments.
Unfortunately, that seems very unlikely now. With inflation above 7 % and predicted to remain there for the next few months at least, if not more, it would need a brave government to announce polls a year ahead of schedule. And we’ve learned that the UPA government is anything but brave.
So long as inflation remains high, so long as food prices remain stratospheric and climbing, the government seems unlikely to want early elections. Inflation isn’t predicted to come down dramatically before polls will have to be held, but then which government wouldn’t cling on to power for as long as possible?
Meanwhile the communists continue their disgusting dance with the dragon. In doing so, they continue to work against our national interests. The BJP looks well positioned to make the most of this, but they’ve put party interests above national interests by opposing the nuke deal: something they would have sold their own selves for, had they been in power.
Is the nuke deal such a good thing? Sure, it gives India all these little goodies. At the end, the reason why the USA wanted to enter the nuclear deal was to break the stranglehold Russia (as the former USSR) had with Indian nuclear plants.
To be honest, I am not a big fan of nuclear fission plants. They are expensive, and frankly hazardous. The money would better be wasted in ITER, and in making a net positive energy thermonuclear reactor by 2020-2030. Until then, we can burn dirty coal, and Kyoto be damned!
Net-positive fusion would be wonderful, but it isn’t even clear whether we can control such a process, leave alone harness it.
In the meanwhile my country’s dependence on hydrocarbons means quite a few blackouts and a proverbial arab gun to our heads.
Russia is now barely an ally. Besides, we don’t have anything in common with them – never have. We don’t share political interests, we don’t have the same strategic aims and objectives. Hell, the Soviets won’t even stick to terms negotiated for most hardware contracts these days.
In the meanwhile, what’s so wrong with an accord that promises much and has very few downsides?