INDIA:THE 45-NATION Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG) responsible for regulating global nuclear trade has approved a distinctive US proposal that permits India to conduct civilian atomic commerce while retaining its strategic weapons programme.
The one-off controversial agreement, concluded at Vienna at the weekend after three days of protracted and fierce debate led by Ireland, Austria and New Zealand,does not require India to sign the global Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty instituted to limit the spread of atomic weapons.
Eventually, Saturday's NSG agreement was reached after these three countries lifted their objection to the US proposal following India's assurances it would not proliferate sensitive nuclear technology or material, and would uphold its moratorium on testing atomic weapons.
But senior Indian officials conceded that pressure from the US, France, Russia, Germany and the UK, all anxious to sell nuclear fuel and equipment to India worth billions of dollars, "persuaded" these small countries to concur.
It is also no secret that US president George Bush lobbied the NSG to ensure the successful completion of the agreement.
Ironically, the same NSG that started off as the London Suppliers' Group (also known as the London Club) to prevent atomic proliferation following India's first underground nuclear explosion in 1974 has, 34 years later, presided over Delhi being granted the very waiver its founding principles had opposed.
Critics of the deal claim it creates a dangerous precedent by allowing India to expand its civil nuclear power industry without adhering to any treaties circumscribing its strategic weapons' programme, as all other nations must.
They believe it undermines arguments for isolating Iran over its nuclear programme and will be a disaster for international nuclear non-proliferation efforts, which have been building momentum since 9/11 and the subsequent global war against terrorism.
Under the terms of the deal, India is to separate its civilian and military reactors, placing 14 of its 22 nuclear facilities under international safeguards.
India's prime minister Manmohan Singh said the NSG decision "marked the end of India's decades-long isolation from the nuclear mainstream and of the technology denial regime" and would help the country meet its rising energy demands to ensure its impressive growth rate.
Last month Mr Singh had staked the future of his government on the deal, facing a close-run confidence vote over it in parliament. The deal now needs ratification by US Congress before it can be "operationalised" by Washington, but allows India to acquire civil nuclear equipment and fuel from any supplier.
India has already negotiated tentative nuclear deals with France and Russia, but has assured Washington that it would wait for the US Congress to clear the agreement before acting upon any of them.
However, India's opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the communists attacked the deal, saying it would curtail India's nuclear weapons programme and "subjugate" the country to US "hegemonic" designs.
"India has walked into the non-proliferation trap set by the US," senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said.