Open Letter to the NSG

Dear Representatives of NSG Member States who have concerns regarding civilian nuclear cooperation with India, 

Over the last few weeks you and some members of the global strategic community have deliberated the consequences of granting India a waiver of the guidelines of your group. These concerns fundamentally stem from the adverse impact this could have on the global non-proliferation regime. India’s counter arguments on this that highlight its special qualifications (impeccable non-proliferation record and stringent export controls) are well known to you. However, let me bring to your notice two other dimensions that merit adequate thought before you arrive at a decision.

First, I would like to point out to you the historical reality of the close interlinkage between poverty and scarcity of energy, particularly electricity. It is a fact that most power-starved regions of the world are also the ones that house maximum poor and starving populations. It took India two decades after independence to attain self-sufficiency in food grains through the Green Revolution that was powered (pun intended) by electricity becoming available for agricultural purposes.

Today, India stands on the threshold of rapid economic growth. This obviously needs large availability of electric power to sustain the industry, services and agricultural sectors and to assure a reasonable quality of life for its citizens. The lack of energy could result in an economic slowdown, which, at face value, you may presume is not a matter of concern to you. But it should be, because lack of economic development and gainful employment for a growing, young population that is exposed to the lifestyles of the ‘developed’ does not lend itself to a formula for peace – national or international. 

The second aspect is even more worrisome from a global environmental perspective. A growth-hungry economy would be compelled to use whatever energy resources are available to it. Already earlier this year, the government of India had considered allowing the industry to install private generator sets that run on environment unfriendly diesel or kerosene to tide over the electricity crisis. The implications of a large-scale use of such private generation units by industry, agriculture and even homes should require little elaboration. In fact, on this issue, I can do no better than to remind you of the goal of Rio Declaration of 1992 that urged, “development that meets the needs and aspirations of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Nuclear power offers this possibility to India, provided you can help it encash this opportunity.

Of course, I understand your singular concern of nuclear proliferation. India has been a direct victim and target of this phenomenon and therefore, in spirit, has always been with you on non-proliferation. But then let’s not assume that not granting India the right to partake in international nuclear commerce can resolve the larger problems afflicting the non proliferation regime arising from violations of the NPT by member states, or the dismal state of the other related treaties. In fact, forgive me, but the present linear and ad hoc approach to non-proliferation seems to have harmed both non-proliferation as well as cooperation for use of peaceful nuclear energy.  Some would even say that the NSG, in fact, is in contravention of the IAEA mandate of promoting peaceful use of nuclear energy.

A word about your apprehensions on making this exception for India without placing sufficient conditions on the country’s strategic programme: you are well aware of India’s specific security concerns; unlike other nuclear weapons possessors, India seeks nuclear deterrence to guard against nuclear blackmail and coercion. The day the international community decides to collectively do away with these weapons of mass destruction, India would be on board. In fact, it would be far easier to accept and manage the emerging nuclear renaissance if the international community would move toward a nuclear weapon free world where nuclear technology is used exclusively for peaceful purposes. Therefore, your time and energies would be far better spent seeking a wider and deeper change in the larger nuclear security calculus. And India would be with you on this.

Technology denials over the years have only served to hamstring India’s power programme, which is in need of rapid expansion for the sake of human and developmental security. In the wake of changed international realities and India’s genuine needs for energy, it is imperative that your approach to non-proliferation be based on consideration of multiple dimensions and practical wisdom. Certainly, this agreement and its eventual translation into electricity on the grid will happen only over years and cannot be expected to resolve all the challenges facing this country. The mosaic of solutions will have to be built bit by bit and this waiver could make a difference.

(Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the views either of the Editorial Committee or the Centre for Land Warfare Studies)