Push It Through

There is hope yet for the nuclear deal. CPI leader A B Bardhan's recent statement that the Left would withdraw support from the government but not pull it down if it went ahead with the deal, opens an interesting window of opportunity.

CPM bigwigs have remained studiedly non-committal, with Sitaram Yechury claiming he has not seen Bardhan's televised interview when he made the statement, while Prakash Karat limited himself to saying there was no change in his party's position.

As things stand, the Left supports the government from outside. If it were to withdraw that support but not take that to its logical conclusion — voting with the BJP to pull down the government — the UPA government can still continue in the few months left in its term.

The government could then sign a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), after which the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) can move an India-specific amendment to its guidelines and the US Congress take it up for approval.

Domestic opposition to the nuclear deal is softening in many quarters, not just the Left. The Samajwadi Party has said, for instance, that while it had previously followed the Left in opposing the deal, it is willing to change its stance if the government were to put the facts before it.

Brajesh Mishra, who had been national security adviser to the previous NDA government, has broken with BJP orthodoxy in endorsing the deal.

A P J Abdul Kalam, doyen of India's strategic missile programme, and also closely involved with the 1998 Pokhran nuclear tests, has followed suit.

The community of nuclear scientists, many of whom earlier harboured suspicions that India's strategic autonomy would be curtailed by the deal, has largely come around.

But segments of the political class still cling to outmoded beliefs on the pact. India is rapidly running out of uranium for its nuclear plants, a fact that could not be publicised earlier as it would have jeopardised India's negotiating position.

Not signing the nuclear deal with the US, with the concomitant IAEA safeguards agreement and NSG waiver, would mean that India would be unable to conclude similar deals with Russia or France.

It could wind up India's nuclear programme, which certainly wouldn't do much for its strategic autonomy. Not to mention that continuing sanctions on India would deny to it technology and investments in high-tech sectors.

Signing the deal, in these circumstances, is plain common sense. The government should continue to make this case to opponents of the deal while pressing forward.

The BJP, too, could do a rethink on whether the country's strategic interests ought to be sacrificed for the sake of petty political advantage.