The nuclear deal is about energy stupid!
The debate over whether the Indo-US nuclear deal is good for us or not, its merits and demerits, its drawbacks and potential, has been the subject of intense debate ever since the Manmohan Singh led government signed on the dotted line nearly two years back. Initially, the debate had focused on the right aspect of the deal – nuclear energy and energy independence. Somewhere along the line the crux of the debate switched from energy to non-proliferation. The US side took the first lead and US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice was quoted as saying that through the agreement the Americans had brought a nuclear pariah into the nuclear non-proliferation fold. This instigated the Indian side with scientists, journalists and the Opposition parties raising hell at this benign attempt by the UPA to become a ‘client’ state of the US and thereby surrendering our sovereignty. While some of the concerns that came out of the draft of the nuclear deal and the 123 agreement needed a concerted effort to resolve, the UPA government has failed miserably to win back the public perception about what really this deal means for India.
If one were to leave the strategic analysts, nuclear scientists and knowledgeable journalists who have written on the subject aside, there will be only a minute minority of people in this country who truly understand what this brouhaha is all about. The political parties have tried to project this deal according to their political compulsions. So while the Left supports this capitalistic leaning government, it cannot be seen in consort with the Congress as they generously embrace the United States. The Left has displayed stupendous hypocrisy by claiming that the right to test a nuclear weapon must not be curtailed by the 123 agreement or through the actual agreement. This when the Left has been an advocate of nuclear non-proliferation as an ideology. The Left should have embraced this deal as it would cap India’s nuclear weapons program, but instead they have aroused their till now dormant nationalistic pride by pressing the government to retain the right to test nuclear weapons.
The BJP too has projected a confused outlook towards this deal. They have at times welcomed the deal only to reject it on some aspect of the draft or the other. In principle the party has always advocated closer relations with the United States and in fact, it was under the aegis of the Vajpayee government that the two countries talked about the possibility of opening India’s nuclear energy program for inspections and nuclear commerce. It has now taken a strong view on the right to test nuclear weapons while at the same time has made it clear that a principle of reciprocity in perpetuity must be maintained. The BJP made the right noises since any opposition party would want to find faults in any ruling governments policy initiatives. What the BJP did wrong was to reach out to the Left and ask for their support against the nuclear deal. It would be prudent and frankly ideologically consistent to have maintained an opposition to the deal or ask for a vote in parliament rather than go and woo the Left to corner the government. It is not a state secret that every time the Right has shook hands with the Left, the handshake is short lived and more unfriendliness invariably follows. The BJP should have advocated a hands off approach to its conduct on the deal in Parliament. It should have sought to let the Left do all the opposing so as to embarrass the government. As it is the job of the principal opposition is done by the Left and not the BJP, so why not do the same this time around.
The media managers for the Congress and the government have proven completely ineffective in handling this latest PR crisis for the government. The saving grace ironically in this case have been the bureaucrats, on both sides. Shyam Saran and his successor, Shivshankar Menon along with their opposite number the Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns have played to the media gallery well in highlighting what each side will get through this deal. Their handling of the nuclear deal has ensured that citizens have got some sort of understanding on what this deal actually means for their respective nations. The Congress’ media managers and the Prime Minister’s press managers have ensured that no sense of clarity on the nuclear deal ever came through. When being hammered on certain aspects of the nuclear deal, the media managers did the worst sort of rebuttal – answer questions which would lead to more questions rather than answers. Instead, if they would have taken a larger holistic view rather than a narrow micro view of the matter they would been on a stronger wicket. After all, the man on the street has a simple question – how does this deal affect me? Instead of answering this basic question of the electorate, the government has thrown words and phrases like the 123, the Hyde Act, the FMCT, right to return, right to reprocess, the three stage nuclear reactors, the IAEA, NSG and NPT among other toss ups. Now, it is nobody’s case to suggest that the debate on a deal of truly landmark proportions should be "dumbed down" in any way, but it is also true that by highlighting the growing energy needs of this country, the government could have talked about the ultimate goal of this initiative and its plans to secure the country’s future energy needs. Such an emotive message would have definitely hit the right spot with most people in this country. By trying to throw at the country jargon the government is finding itself in a tight spot. How easy it would have been for Manmohan Singh to say to Parliament that under this deal I have ensured that the quest for energy security, an issue of paramount importance to a growing economy like ours, has been partially addressed. But I don’t blame the doctor, he thought everyone knew the intricacies of diplomatic give and take and the constitutional requirements of India and the United States, which only a truly scholar like him would know. But he doesn’t have an election to face or win, or can, and so he can talk the jargon, while the rest are trying to collect as many brownie points as possible for 2009.
If one were to leave the strategic analysts, nuclear scientists and knowledgeable journalists who have written on the subject aside, there will be only a minute minority of people in this country who truly understand what this brouhaha is all about. The political parties have tried to project this deal according to their political compulsions. So while the Left supports this capitalistic leaning government, it cannot be seen in consort with the Congress as they generously embrace the United States. The Left has displayed stupendous hypocrisy by claiming that the right to test a nuclear weapon must not be curtailed by the 123 agreement or through the actual agreement. This when the Left has been an advocate of nuclear non-proliferation as an ideology. The Left should have embraced this deal as it would cap India’s nuclear weapons program, but instead they have aroused their till now dormant nationalistic pride by pressing the government to retain the right to test nuclear weapons.
The BJP too has projected a confused outlook towards this deal. They have at times welcomed the deal only to reject it on some aspect of the draft or the other. In principle the party has always advocated closer relations with the United States and in fact, it was under the aegis of the Vajpayee government that the two countries talked about the possibility of opening India’s nuclear energy program for inspections and nuclear commerce. It has now taken a strong view on the right to test nuclear weapons while at the same time has made it clear that a principle of reciprocity in perpetuity must be maintained. The BJP made the right noises since any opposition party would want to find faults in any ruling governments policy initiatives. What the BJP did wrong was to reach out to the Left and ask for their support against the nuclear deal. It would be prudent and frankly ideologically consistent to have maintained an opposition to the deal or ask for a vote in parliament rather than go and woo the Left to corner the government. It is not a state secret that every time the Right has shook hands with the Left, the handshake is short lived and more unfriendliness invariably follows. The BJP should have advocated a hands off approach to its conduct on the deal in Parliament. It should have sought to let the Left do all the opposing so as to embarrass the government. As it is the job of the principal opposition is done by the Left and not the BJP, so why not do the same this time around.
The media managers for the Congress and the government have proven completely ineffective in handling this latest PR crisis for the government. The saving grace ironically in this case have been the bureaucrats, on both sides. Shyam Saran and his successor, Shivshankar Menon along with their opposite number the Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns have played to the media gallery well in highlighting what each side will get through this deal. Their handling of the nuclear deal has ensured that citizens have got some sort of understanding on what this deal actually means for their respective nations. The Congress’ media managers and the Prime Minister’s press managers have ensured that no sense of clarity on the nuclear deal ever came through. When being hammered on certain aspects of the nuclear deal, the media managers did the worst sort of rebuttal – answer questions which would lead to more questions rather than answers. Instead, if they would have taken a larger holistic view rather than a narrow micro view of the matter they would been on a stronger wicket. After all, the man on the street has a simple question – how does this deal affect me? Instead of answering this basic question of the electorate, the government has thrown words and phrases like the 123, the Hyde Act, the FMCT, right to return, right to reprocess, the three stage nuclear reactors, the IAEA, NSG and NPT among other toss ups. Now, it is nobody’s case to suggest that the debate on a deal of truly landmark proportions should be "dumbed down" in any way, but it is also true that by highlighting the growing energy needs of this country, the government could have talked about the ultimate goal of this initiative and its plans to secure the country’s future energy needs. Such an emotive message would have definitely hit the right spot with most people in this country. By trying to throw at the country jargon the government is finding itself in a tight spot. How easy it would have been for Manmohan Singh to say to Parliament that under this deal I have ensured that the quest for energy security, an issue of paramount importance to a growing economy like ours, has been partially addressed. But I don’t blame the doctor, he thought everyone knew the intricacies of diplomatic give and take and the constitutional requirements of India and the United States, which only a truly scholar like him would know. But he doesn’t have an election to face or win, or can, and so he can talk the jargon, while the rest are trying to collect as many brownie points as possible for 2009.
posted by Karan Thakur @ 4:36 AM
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