Bush in India: “A Historical Deal

On March 2, 2006, during his four-day visit in India, President George W. Bush signed a pact with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, concerning India’s civilian nuclear field.
Under this agreement, India would divide its civilian and military nuclear programs, placing the former under the eye of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which upholds more of its peaceful uses.
In return, the United States will provide reactor technologies along with nuclear fuel to establish advanced civilian nuclear programs. At the same time, India is willing to open up its nuclear facilities for inspection.
Many have seen this deal as being controversial, in that Washington agreed to share nuclear technology with another country, specifically India, because of their history and the United States’ firm policy on nuclear non-proliferation.
To start, India has opposed to signing the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, believing it to be discriminatory. Under the NPT, the world’s five nuclear powers (United States, Russia, Britain, France, and China) are permitted to further their research and development of their nuclear weapons, while prohibiting other nations from holding any.
Their history
The relationship between India and the United States has historically seemed to be unfriendly for the past decades. Washington has pushed for India to end its research on the nuclear sector, insisting that they also sign both the NPT as well as the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) during the nineties.
Due to the highly hostile nature in the region of India and Pakistan, the United States pressed for a restriction in the production of missiles, nuclear testing, and deployment.
Bush’s visit to India this month was considered to be a landmark in their relationship, being that he was willing to share nuclear information with the soon-to-be sixth nuclear world power.
He called the move “historic,” and many may agree. Bush made an advance in the relationship with the world’s largest democracy, thus promoting his pursuit for global democratization.
Experts also agree that this agreement may be momentous. The department of defense feels that the United States can be confident in their influence over the Asian region, as India is located southwest of the next global power, the People’s Republic of China.
Local population’s reaction
Newspaper sources such as CNN have featured stories of 65,000 anti-Bush protestors waiting when Bush entered India. Largely made up of Muslims and Communists, the anti-American sentiment led to the death of several people.
In Pakistan, Bush’s next stop after India, a suicide bomber with his vehicle filled with explosives rammed in to a vehicle of a US Consulate in Karachi, killing several people,including a US diplomat.
At the time of Bush’s arrival, there were thousands of protesters, with hanging American flags on fire and anti-Bush signs.
However, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf extended his greetings by sending his own daughter to the airport.
In any case, the anti-American ideas seem pretty dominant in South Asia, just like elsewhere around the globe, but sources in India offered a deeper analysis of the difference in protests between the two countries.
The source claims that as in any democratic country the protesters that gathered were generally kept under control by police as they became rowdier. Similar situations of demonstrations could be found in other democratic nations like the United States.
Consisting of both Communists and Muslims, the motives of the former are mainly due to their antagonistic ideology toward the US from way back. The Muslims’ gathering was because of Washington’s strong position in regards to Iraq, Iran, and Palestine. An additional motive has been triggered by the recent publications of the Danish offensive cartoons of Islam.
India-Pakistan difference
What makes India unique is that it doesn’t harbor any terrorist groups, no al-Qaeida, unlike its neighbor, Pakistan. This country is clearly a democratic republic with an equal and fair representation amongst its people.
Pakistan has been making progress in dealing with terrorist groups, hiding within their own borders. Recently, they’ve been reported to have killed several of them, and the United States recognize them for that. When asked why he is willing to offer nuclear information with India but just basic weapons with Pakistan, Bush mentioned that the US must deal with each country in their own way.
Bush’s deal, though, must be approved by Congress, which he feels confident about. Others believe that it’s hard to support the president since he made a deal of trading nuclear technology with a nation that didn’t sign the NPT.
This act in itself shows how once again, a treaty respected by nearly all nations internationally, could be overlooked by the world’s most powerful nation.
As this century is being considered the “Asian century” and the previous century as European, India is growing to be one of the most powerful players in the world.
With a population of over a billion, an increasing middle class the size of the US population, and one of the world’s fastest growing economies, the nuclear pact with India will be beneficial in securing US status in the world.
For that Bush is pleased. He also hopes that the world’s largest democracy can have some influence over its northern neighbor.