As President George W. Bush prepares to leave office, India owes a deep debt of gratitude to him.
Imagine what President Bush has done for India. As a non-signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), per U.S. Congress legislation the United States was prohibited from offering (selling) any nuclear technologies to India. However, President Bush promised India in 2005 that he will persuade the U.S. Congress to make an exception for India because President Bush believed that India’s reasons for not signing the NPT were most reasonable and that India had consistently behaved with extra-ordinary professionalism.
India dithered. The composition of the U.S. Congress changed in the 2006 elections — the Democratic party came to control both the House of Representatives and the Senate. And then when the Nuclear agreement appeared to be ready to be presented to the Congress, the United States was struck with monumental financial crisis. The U.S. Congress was and has been absorbed this impossible domestic crisis. In the midst of this massive crisis, President Bush was able to navigate the Nuclear agreement through both the Houses of the U.S. Congress and get favorable votes.
As if this was not enough, President Bush had to secure the support of more than 60 percent of the House of Representatives because the agreement was placed on a fast-track legislative route.
Not only this, the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) — a group of about 45 countries with nuclear technology and knowledge — would not have approved the so-called 123 Nuclear agreement with India but for President Bush’s very evident and public support and lobbying effort. China, Japan and other countries were skeptical of India’s having-the-cake and eating-it-too posture with regard to nuclear technology.
President Bush has transformed India’s global position. President Bush has done to India what President Nixon did to China.
Apart from President Bush, the leadership of Ambassador Ronen Sen in the U.S. has to be recognized. Sen has taken a lot of heat for his persistence, but he has been most gracious and thoughtful.
Tags: 123 agreement, India-US Nuclear agreement, Nuclear Suppliers' Group, President George W. Bush, Nuclear Non-proliferation, Ronen Sen
