Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Nuclear trade

This refers to the report that the United States has persuaded the G8 nations to ban the transfer of enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) nuclear items to countries which have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, thus blocking full nuclear trade with India. This was not entirely unexpected because the Obama administration made it amply clear that it wanted India to sign the NPT. Are we to assume that the earlier UPA government misled the nation? Were the apprehensions of the Opposition justified? At least now, let us stop building castles in the air and concentrate on developing indigenous sources of energy.

M.M. Kale,

Kakinada

It is unfortunate that India was caught unawares by the U.S. and G8. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh staked everything to win the trust vote in Parliament last year to keep the India-U.S. nuclear deal alive. The UPA government also claimed that it had won the support of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. One wonders how Dr. Singh proposes to explain the latest development to a nation that has elected him for a second consecutive term.

Col. C.V. Venugopalan (retd.),

Palakkad

The U.S. move has clearly exposed the ineffectiveness of our diplomacy. The NSG nations whose economies are in a bad shape with no sign of revival in the near future need nuclear trade with India. But our government, instead of dictating terms, has succumbed to the sellers’ pressure. The opponents of the 123 agreement should come out of the electoral shock, grab this opportunity and pressure the government to drop the purchase of nuclear reactors from the U.S.

N. Ramamurthy,

Chennai

What the Left parties predicted has come true. When the U.S. found that the beneficiaries of the India-U.S. nuclear treaty would be other countries (like Russia and France) and its own business interests will not be met fully, it decided to strike.

Malippuram Khalid,

Kochi

The report that the G8 has blocked full nuclear trade with India strengthens the belief that Dr. Singh sold out India’s interests when he went out of his way to clear the decks for the signing of the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal. Our leaders just do not seem to be able to resist arm-twisting by others.

J.V.V. Murthy,

Coimbatore

We should realise that we cannot rely too heavily on the U.S. to meet our long-term needs for energy security. It is clear from the G8’s move that the U.S. can take unilateral decisions without taking India into confidence even in matters that are at the core of important agreements. India should not go slow in exploring other sources of energy, and it should evolve a plan for the development of alternative sources and push forward with deals like the IPI pipeline.

Abhimanyu Singh,

Jaipur

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