“Many thought this day would never come,” secretary of state Condoleezza Rice acknowledged minutes before signing the the US-India civilian nuclear agreement at the state department on Friday. It was a photo finish. The deal was carried over the finish line by the momentum generated chiefly by President George W. Bush and Rice.
With an air of satisfaction and relief, Rice added, “But doubts have been silenced now.”
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who signed the deal with Rice, later told reporters the deal “reflects a careful balance of rights and obligations for both parties.”
Mukherjee added: “ We intend to implement this agreement in good faith and in accordance with the principles of international law and I am confident that the US will also do the same.”
He noted the agreement had been passed by the US Congress without any amendments. “This provision is now legally binding on both sides, once the agreement enters into force,” he said. The agreement overturns more than three decades of restrictions on nuclear trade between the US and India.
“The increased share of nuclear energy in our energy mix will make a major positive contribution to our sustainable development and to meeting our objective of eradicating poverty,” Mukherjee told reporters, adding, “ we, therefore, see this as a critical development for our economic growth and development. The agreement is also important for global energy security as well as a contribution to global efforts to meet the challenge of climate change.”
Describing the agreement as “unprecedented,” Rice said, “Prime Minister (Manmohan) Singh literally risked his political future for this agreement and then remade his government to gain the support that he needed. And President Bush first saw the potential and the need for transforming the US-India partnership all the way back in 1999 when he was still Governor of Texas, and he's made it one of his highest priorities."
"That is what democratic leaders do,” she added. Mukherjee acknowledged: “ We have brought to fruition three years of extraordinary effort by both our governments.”
Noting the strong bipartisan support for the deal in the US Congress, Mukherjee said: “We see this bipartisan support as a vote for stronger India-US cooperation to the mutual benefit of our people.” Both men seeking to succeed Bush in the White House — Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and Republican
Sen. John McCain - have voiced their support for the deal.
Rice noted the deal “unlocks a new and far broader world of potential for our strategic partnership in the 21st century, not just on nuclear cooperation but on every area of national endeavour.”
For corporate America, the deal provides an opportunity to compete for billions of dollars worth of deals and create thousands of new jobs in the US.
General Electric is one of the firms eyeing a slice of the Indian nuclear pie. Elizabeth Kuronen of GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy told this correspondent the firm’s prospects would include “ new reactor technology, which could potentially include as many as 10 reactors to be built over a period of 15-20 years.”
Kuronen said as a US company, GE would be bound by the 123 Agreement with respect to reactor technology, fuel and services.
Mukherjee said New Delhi looked forward to working with the US companies, “ on the commercial stage that will follow, to implement this landmark agreement.”
Both Rice and Mukherjee lauded the role of the Indian American community in helping push the deal towards the finish line.
