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INDIAN political parties, nuclear scientists, analysts and other opinion makers have made a very useful contribution to the negotiation of the fine print of the 123 Agreement that will give effect to the Indo-US nuclear deal. Now that the country has got the best possible deal that it could, many of them protest too much! The remarkably stubborn Left Parties, the ambivalent BJP leadership and the analysts who are crying wolf are plumb wrong. Why do our analysts and apparatchiks of the Left Parties so meekly assume that we will play a subaltern role and act as pawns to further US “imperialism” and hegemony? What did we get from 50 years of non-alignment anyway? It had, in any case, tilted rather sharply towards the Soviet Union. A few decades ago we were down on our knees – crippled by famines, droughts, Fabian socialism, the license-permit Raj and sanctions. We were almost forced to sell the family silver. Yet, we did not bend to the diktats of the sole superpower (remember Charles Krauthammer exulting in “The Unipolar Moment”?!) and its allies and refused to sign the NPT and the CTBT despite all their entreaties, threats and cajoling. Now with our economic and military power looking up, with the US economy and military power progressively declining and with the leaders of the world’s major powers making a n annual pilgrimage to Delhi, what weakness of character makes these pessimists worry so much? The Indo-US nuclear deal is a win-win arrangement for both India and the US. It is a positive development for international non-proliferation. It will get us much needed nuclear, space, defence, medical and agricultural technologies. In the form of FDI, it will spur the infusion of large amounts of capital that will lead to jobs and prosperity. Since strategic analysts have worst case scenarios etched on their souls, let us assure them that we can walk out of the deal when we want to – with our strategic weapons programme, honour and dignity intact. The nuclear deal will further unshackle our locked up potential to alleviate poverty and really free our people. Let us not sink under the weight of our own doubts and misconceptions. Let us be clear in our thinking: no power on earth can tell India what to do. We will decide what is in our national interest. We will be the masters of our own destiny. Let us take the opportunity with both hands and make the best of it. Let us rise to lead the world. (Courtesy: The Tribune)
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