Saturday September 6, 2008, 6:01 pm
N-Course

July 18, 2005: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George W. Bush reach civil nuclear cooperation understanding.

March 3, 2006: Bush visits India and meets Manmohan Singh. They agree on India’s nuclear separation plan.

December 8-9: Both Houses of the US Congress passed the final version of the nuclear deal,

August 3, 2007: India and the US simultaneously release the text of the bilateral accord, called the 123 agreement,

July 9, 2008: Left parties withdraw support to the UPA government after the Prime Minister announces India is going to the IAEA for safeguards agreement,

July 22: Manmohan Singh wins trust vote in the Lok Sabha after the Samajwadi Party decides to support the UPA regime.

August 1: The IAEA board of governors approves India-specific safeguards agreement,

August 21-22: Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) meeting on India-specific waiver fails to evolve a consensus,

September 4-6: The NSG gives nod to India to undertake nuclear trade after three days of negotiations.

Saturday September 6, 2008, 6:02 pm
A new chapter opens: Pranab
Ashok Tuteja
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 6
External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee today asserted that the NSG waiver was a unique development that has been achieved in accordance with commitments given to Parliament and the people of India and was consistent with the country’s national interest.

“The final outcome is consistent with government policy and the national consensus on disarmament and non-proliferation,” he said at a press conference soon after the NSG gave its nod to the India-specific waiver at its meeting in Vienna. Mukherjee said the NSG decision would open a new chapter in India’s cooperation with other countries in peaceful uses of nuclear energy. “We look forward to working with our international partners in realising the full potential of mutually beneficial cooperation that this decision entails. It is a development of major significance to global energy security and would also be a contribution to meeting the challenges of climate change.’’

Mukherjee played a pivotal role in giving final touches to the revised text of the draft presented by the Americans at the NSG for giving a waiver to India. His statement yesterday, committing India to a voluntary unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing, heavily tilted the balance in favour of the NSG giving its nod to the nuclear deal. The Austrians, who were the most vocal in opposing the waiver, have gone on record, saying Mukherjee’s statement had gone a long way in allaying their apprehensions about India’s nuclear programme.

The foreign minister said the NSG decision constituted a major landmark. “I would like to take the opportunity to place on record the government’s deep appreciation for the untiring efforts of the US, France, UK and Russia throughout this process and also the support received from the present and previous Chairs of the NSG-Germany, South Africa and Brazil.”

He also thanked US President George W Bush and secretary of state Condoleezza Rice for their personal commitment and contribution to the process.

Saturday September 6, 2008, 6:03 pm
Men behind waiver

The ruling establishment is in a jubilation mood after the NSG waiver. This has come after a high-voltage diplomacy carried out by some of the key officials. These officials are:

Shyam Saran: Considered the architect of the nuclear deal during his tenure as foreign secretary, Saran is currently the special envoy of the Prime Minister. In the last two months, he visited almost all the major world capitals to garner support from developed nations in favour of the deal. A 1970 IFS officer, Saran served as India’s Ambassador to Nepal, Indonesia and Myanmar and High Commissioner to Mauritius.

An articulate diplomat, Saran is also credited with giving an impetus to the India-Pakistan composite dialogue process during his tenure as foreign secretary.

Anil Kakodkar: Kakodkar is a famous Indian nuclear scientist, who was associated with the first successful peaceful nuclear experiment conducted by India on May 18, 1974, at Pokhran. He also played a key role in a series of five successful nuclear tests conducted by India during May 1998 again at Pokhran.

At present, Kakodkar is the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India (AECI) and secretary to the Indian government, the Department of Atomic energy. Kakodkar was also the director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre at Trombay.

He was the main Indian negotiator with IAEA Director-General Mohammed el-Baradei over the India-specific safeguards agreement, which the global nuclear watchdog approved on August 1.

M.K. Narayanan: A tough-talking official, Narayanan enjoys confidence of the PM. In his capacity as National Security Adviser, he is also primary adviser to the Prime Minister, the Indian Cabinet and the NSC on internal and international security issues.

Even as the Indian diplomatic team in Vienna was finding the going tough at the NSG meeting, it was always in touch with Narayanan, said to be the eyes and ears of Manmohan Singh.

Shiv Shankar Menon: The suave foreign secretary was High Commissioner to Pakistan before his elevation to the post. He has also served in China and Israel as Ambassador. A masters in history from Delhi University, Menon, a 1972 batch IFS officer, also had a stint in the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) as an adviser.

Foreign diplomacy is in the veins of Menon, who hails from Ottapalam in Palakkad district district of Kerala. K.P.S. Menon (senior), India’s first foreign secretary, is his grandfather and K.P.S. Menon (junior), former Indian Ambassador to China, is his uncle. His father P.N. Menon was also a career diplomat and served as the Ambassador of Yugoslavia in his last days.

Ronen Sen: Sen has been India’s Ambassador to the US since August 2004. He did most of the groundwork in Washington burning the midnight oil with key US officials to finalise the civil nuclear cooperation understanding that was finally approved by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George Bush on July 18, 2005.

Sen joined the IFS in July 1966. From May 1968 to July 1984, he served in Indian missions/ posts in Moscow, San Francisco and in Dhaka and in the ministry of external affairs, and had also been secretary to the Atomic Energy Commission of India. From July 1984 to December 1985, Sen was joint secretary in the ministry of external affairs. He was thereafter joint secretary to the Prime Minister from January 1986 to July 1991, responsible for foreign affairs, defence and science and technology.

S. Jaishankar: Currently the Indian High Commissioner to Singapore, Jaishankar was the joint secretary (Americas) in the external affairs ministry when the nuclear deal was being negotiated. A close confidant of Shyam Saran, who was then the foreign secretary, Jaishankar frequently travelled to Washington to conduct the tough negotiations with the Americans. — Ashok Tuteja

Saturday September 6, 2008, 6:18 pm
Noted With thanks,Naresh!

Sunday September 7, 2008, 10:34 pm
I don't like nukes and wish they'd destroy them all and stop making them. There is no good in any kind of nuclear power. Weapon nor energy.
I pray the people of India will learn from the so called super powers of the USA & Russia. Both have had accidents that could have easily blown us off the map.

http://www.cdi.org/Issues/NukeAccidents/Accidents.htm

Inadvertent Explosion:
"Nuclear weapons are designed with great care to explode only when deliberately armed and fired. Nevertheless, there is always a possibility that, as a result of accidental circumstances, an explosion will take place inadvertently. Although all conceivable precautions are taken to prevent them, such accidents might occur in areas where weapons are assembled and stored, during the course of loading and transportation on the ground, or when actually in the delivery vehicle, e.g., an airplane or a missile."

-Atomic Energy Commission/Department of Defense, The Effects of Nuclear Weapons, 1962.

http://library.thinkquest.org/17940/texts/nuclear_disasters/nuclear_disasters.html

One of the scariest things about nuclear power is when something goes wrong and an accident occurs. Radiation is released into the environment and people get hurt. Two of the most famous nuclear accidents occurred at the Three Mile Island reactor 2 in the United States and the Chernobyl reactor 4 in the former Soviet Union.

Thank you Naresh

Monday September 8, 2008, 9:38 pm
Hey! At least Mr. "president" Bush got us Indian mangos in trade. I would laugh if it weren't for the sad tragic fact that more nuclear weapons means more chances for global devastation caused by systems failure. Hurray screwed by republicans again!