Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s affirmation on Saturday, on his way back from the G-8 summit in Germany, that all “patriotic” Indians should support the nuclear deal with the US is remarkable not for its content as much as the new political spunk behind it. After signing the path-breaking nuclear agreement with US President George W. Bush in July 2005, the prime minister retreated into a shell at the first signs of opposition within his own government and opportunist attacks from the Left parties and the BJP. His reluctance to make the political case for the nuclear deal opened the space for an extended and rather surreal debate at home. The more defensive the government got, the bolder were the attacks on it. After his brief but apparently positive conversation with Bush on the margins of the summit and a substantial negotiation between the National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and his US counterpart Steve Hadley, the PM appears to have rediscovered his voice. In arguing that the deal would end India’s long nuclear isolation while preserving its weapons programme and dismissing the Opposition attacks as motivated, he has demonstrated the much-awaited prime ministerial attitude. In an equally important signal from Germany, he appears to have brought a measure of order to his own house. It is no secret that the internal negotiations within the government on the terms of nuclear endearment with the US have been as difficult as the talks with Washington. The latest Indian offer on breaking the deadlock in the nuclear talks over the question of reprocessing suggests at once greater internal cohesion as well as pragmatism on the part of the UPA government. Only a few days ago, India’s just demand for the all important right to convert spent fuel from reactors into plutonium and the US fears that the material could be misused for building additional nuclear weapons seemed irreconcilable. The prime minister and his advisors have risen to the challenge by offering to build new fuel storage and reprocessing facilities under credible international safeguards. This welcome proposal provides a basis for addressing American non-proliferation concerns as well as India’s genuine need to use plutonium for electric power generation. To be sure, we have not yet heard the US response to the new Indian initiative. Some tough bargaining lies ahead. But the PM’s nuclear optimism reflects his confidence that Bush is committed to bringing the historic nuclear deal to an early closure that finds political satisfaction on both sides.
