123 Deal
The Indo-U.S. civilian nuclear agreement, known also as the Indo-U.S.
nuclear deal, refers to a bilateral accord on civil nuclear cooperation between
the United States of America and the Republic of India. The framework for
this agreement was a July 18, 2005 joint statement by Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and U.S. President George W. Bush, under which India
agreed to separate its civil and military nuclear facilities and place all its civil
nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
safeguards and, in exchange, the United States agreed to work toward full
civil nuclear cooperation with India.
The nuclear deal was widely seen as a legacy-building effort by President Bush and Prime Minister Singh. But while the deal had
to pass muster with the U.S. Congress twice (once when the Hyde Act was passed in late 2006 to amend U.S. domestic law and
then when the final deal-related package was approved in October 2008), Singh blocked the Indian Parliament from scrutinizing
the deal. The deal proved very contentious in India and threatened at one time to topple Singh's government, which survived a
confidence vote in Parliament in July 2008 by roping in a regional party as a coalition partner in place of the leftist bloc that had
bolted.
Through its denial of civil enrichment and reprocessing technology and equipment, the final deal does not offer India the full
cooperation the original agreement-in-principle had promised. Also, another original plank -- that India would assume the same
responsibilities and practices and acquire the same benefits and advantages as other leading countries with advanced nuclear
technology like the United States -- has proven to be a rhetorical one.
On August 1, 2008, the IAEA approved the safeguards agreement with India,[5] after which the United States approached the
Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to grant a waiver to India to commence civilian nuclear trade.[6] The 45-nation NSG granted the...
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