NEW DELHI: The United States and India have failed to reach a final agreement on the separation of civilian and military nuclear facilities. US President George W. Bush, who arrived here on Wednesday evening on a three-day visit, might not be able to sign a document with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh taking the India-US civilian nuclear energy agreement forward as “differences” still persist despite weeks of negotiations.
The strong opposition by nuclear scientists to the separation of nuclear facilities into civilian and military categories at the instance of the United States government received further support from President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on the eve of President Bush’s visit. Dr Kalam used the occasion of National Science Day to make a detailed presentation over Doordarshan, complete with slides and tables, reminding the nation that “every one of the nuclear scientists and science leaders” had realised the value of self-reliance as the nation’s nuclear programme had “always been under technological denial for decades from many countries.”
In a clear reference to the US, Dr Kalam spoke of the light combat aircraft programme that “came to a halt because of collaborating countries breaking the agreements on the development contract undertaken.” He did not directly name the US, which had pulled out of the project after the 1998 Pokhran nuclear tests and had asked many Indian scientists working on different fields linked to the LCA in New York to pack their bags and leave.
Instead, he pointed out that subsequent to the sanctions he, at that time, as chief of the Aeronautical Development Agency, formed a national team for LCA control — as a result of which four LCA aircraft were now flying and the fifth one was ready for a flight test.
President Kalam made it clear that large-scale generation of power through nuclear fuel was vital, but for this “we have to study the thorium-based programme in relation to the ongoing programmes of the department of atomic energy (DAE).” He said it was essential to establish enough fast breeder reactor capacity so that Indian scientists could shift to thorium-based systems and “continue to get thorium reactors for a long time.” The president, in his Independence Day speech, had stated the importance of exploiting the country’s large thorium reserves to achieve nuclear self-sufficiency.
Foreign secretary Shyam Saran, briefing reporters about President Bush’s visit just a day before his arrival, said, in reference to the nuclear deal: “We have managed to make considerable progress. We still have some distance to go. This is a complicated and complex issue.” He said it was important for both governments to “make sure there are no ambiguities which may create difficulties for us in the future.” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in his suo motu statement in Parliament, did not indicate whether the two governments were in a position to finalise the agreement during President Bush’s visit and what exactly was the sticking point.
He did say that the fast breeder reactor would not be placed on the list of civilian nuclear facilities, although that had reportedly been one of the key demands by US interlocutors negotiating the agreement. Both governments are now taking care to insist that the success of the visit was not linked to the nuclear agreement, even while expressing hope that there would be something on this for both leaders to sign during President Bush’s stay in India.—By arrangement with The Asianage.
