I studied at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.I’m against anything that sounds like disinvestment, privatization, America … I believe Manmohan Singh has sold India to the USA and I dislike him for that.
Why not Russia or China?
I oppose the Indo-US Nuke Deal.
I believe it’s unfavourable to the people of my country.
My country, China
I am a member of the Communist Party of India (CPI).
i. The Left, it was believed, would succumb to the populist measures undertaken in the budget and would finally accede to this nuclear agreement.
We were reacting too soon, it seems. Recently, CPI General Secretary, C.P. Bardhan wrote to the Prime Minister stating, very indiscreetly, that the Left would withdraw support if the government went ahead with the deal. The fact that this deal is in India’s best interests is widely known and needs no reiteration.
What needs reiteration is that, once again, national interest is being compromised for the sake of petty politics. Why must the communists bring in their personal animosity for the Americans into the picture whilst viewing the deal? Would the deal have come through had it been maybe the Indo-Russia Nuclear Deal or the Indo-China Nuclear Deal?
One would expect the Left leaders, who are educated, to be flexible in their opinion at least for the sake of the nation’s interest. All the same, their reaction is not unforeseen, given their set notions about any relations with the US. Hence, it is the BJP’s reaction that leaves me more perplexed. It is one thing that this is the first time in four years of the UPA’s tenure, that the BJP has realized its role as the Opposition. However, the fact that they have decided to oppose a deal which their own government initiated is odd. They have played their role of an Opposition party; but they have done so in their personal interest, not the nation’s. Why should they let the UPA get the credit for this deal, albeit the fact that it is in the country’s best interests?
Whilst it is quite apparent that the Left and the BJP are playing a game of personal interest and politics, it is dumbfounding that the UPA is not being more assertive about the deal. It has not even been discussed in detail yet!
The Indian National Congress has a long history, and a tradition, which no other political party in India has today. It has given the country some of its best leaders, and its politicians are backed by a large reservoir of experience. It is the same party which produced an obstinate Indira Gandhi, who went to the extreme of declaring a state of emergency to prove her point. Why, then, is the Congress displaying an inability to have the nuclear deal passed in Parliament? The answer is the obvious and is the same as in the case of the Left and the BJP. Furthermore, the ruling coalition does realize that the aam aadmi of India does not have an idea about this agreement – its significance, need, merits or demerits. All this becomes apparent when External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherjee says, “The government won’t be sacrificed for the sake of the deal“. It is as simple as that – even the Congress, despite knowing the significance of the deal, does not want to risk an early election. If it does and loses, it will be losing six entire months of power, which it would have got otherwise.
It is quite tragic that our government has got us the best deal we could have had, but we are still losing out on it.
It is all a game – a game of paltry politics.
Rohan Sandhu
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i agreed with the nuclear deal because it really helpful for our nation.due to this we emerge as a global power. i think u are also agree with my view. thank you
i find ur article very intresting ……..but according to me todey due scarcity of energy india is lagging behind .It is not dat we dont have qualified engineers but point is that we dont have energy to make gud equipments…see i can give u all a pretty small example i.e let us take agricultural sector it is not dat we dont know bout tube wells but point is dat we need electricity to run that(which we dont have in our villages so people has to depend upon seasonal rains) these kind of problems can only be soughted out thorough nuclear deal …SO I PERSONALLY SUPPORTS NUKE DEAL….
oh loved the first few lines ( does it refer 2 sitaram yechury?????
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deal is not as good as it sounds to you.jus go back to the initial times of the deal,it was Ms. Rice who went ahead to comment on our nuclear test prgramme rather bluntly and put question marks on our sovereignty n if US is gvng deadlines in a hurry den plz smell rat buddy.
Agreed. But, why shouldn’t this nuclear cooperation help us resolve some of our human development issues. Is human development only about one large loan waiver, which sorts out the condition of farmers in the short run?
OR, does human development also encompass issues such as infrastructure which includes energy and power? Imagine how the gap b/w rural and urban India could be bridged if nuclear energy was to provide electricity to farms? (don’t hold me responsible if the govt. does NOT do that. I’m merely suggesting it CAN.
Also, nuclear energy would help us solve many of our issues w.r.t. petroleum. It is one of our greatest imports, and creates a very very very high strain on the government’s expenditure. This would help in reducing, as well as the various subsidies the govt offers for petrol and diesel. These funds could then be allocated towards infrastrcuture or any other field that would contribute to human development.
i beg to differ. Has anyone why this nuke deal even came to the fore in the first place? How can we all easily think that this deal wont bind us in certain clauses that are unfortunately never revealed to the public. and we are talking of the US here. i agree they are a super power but their politics brings with it certain dangers. It is easy for us to fall for the american dream. but at the end of the day, we have larger human issues to tackle rather than just nuclear cooperation. Sticking with the US would only mean sucking up to their big brother politics and getting trapped in our own larger than life ambitions.we need to redefine ‘national interests’.
Thx Anam and Shruti
Brilliant article Rohan. I loved the first few lines, they were bang on. Well articulated, and a refreshing read.
interesting article. i like your take on both the Left and the BJP.its a pity that the Left has not been much of an “ally” for the congress. they dont seem to understand that there are certain things that will help the nation as a whole, something like the nuclear deal. we shud thing bout the long term effects of such deals.but the Left is quite short sighted acc to me.as for the BJP,its tactics are merely to overthrow the present govt.the nations interest sadly comes second for it.
right. I understand your point of view. Whilst the American economy is going down, it still remains the most important country (economically, socially and politically)in the world. The American economy continues to have it’s influence all over the world, as was proven when the stock markets all over the world crashed as a result of American recession.
We may be moving up but the gap is HUGE.
Also I believe this deal would help India overcome its energy problems, and we wouldn’t need to rely completely on gas and petroleum. When you talk of the US not wanting to do charity, you make sense. Why should they? And why should even we,for that matter? India has certain issues, and those have been sorted out in the deal. For instance, we did not want any international interference in our nuclear plants, as that would give out essential, confidential information, so we divided our nuclear power plants into Civilian and Military. International interference is allowed only for the first category.
Also note that, India hasn’t signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, neither are we ‘recognized’ as a nuclear state. the US has still agreed on OUR terms and OUR conditions. And this deal is merely helping us sort out our infrastructure issues, amongst many others.
The deal would also strengthen our relations with the USA, and could help in getting us closer to the seat in the UNSC.
(This sure was a very long reply – sorry about THAT!:P)
I smehow feel tht te indo- us nuclear deal doesnt make sense ( although i believe in globalisation and i am nt a big fan of CPM) but THe US economy is going down and india’s economy is doing really well .. and i am sure tht the US is quite aware of this and i dont think they are the kind of country who would be wanting to do charity knowing all of this … somehow have mixed views about the nuclear deal .. oh nice article btw