India, U.S. reach landmark nuclear agreement

updated 9:44 p.m. ET March 2, 2006

NEW DELHI, India - Reversing decades of U.S. policy, President Bush ushered India into the world’s exclusive nuclear club Thursday with a landmark agreement to share nuclear reactors, fuel and expertise with this energy-starved nation in return for its acceptance of international safeguards.

Eight months in the making, the accord would end India’s long isolation as a nuclear maverick that defied world appeals and developed nuclear weapons. India agreed to separate its tightly entwined nuclear industry — declaring 14 reactors as commercial facilities and eight as military — and to open the civilian side to international inspections for the first time.

The agreement must be approved by Congress, and Bush acknowledged that might be difficult because India still refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.

(That fact has complicated other relationships. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Friday that Australia will not sell uranium to India until it signs the treaty.

(Downer welcomed the deal brokered by Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, but he said Australia would not alter its longstanding policy blocking the sale of uranium, as it could result in other countries that have not signed the treaty making bids for Australian uranium.)

Singh hails historic moment
Bush, who has made improving relations with India a goal of his administration, said “I’m trying to think differently, not stay stuck in the past.” Celebrating their agreement, Singh said, “We have made history today, and I thank you.”

The deal was sealed a day before Bush begins an overnight visit to Pakistan, a close ally struggling with its own terrorism problems. It was there on Thursday that at least one bomb ripped through the parking lot of the Marriott Hotel in Karachi, exploding windows in the nearby U.S. consulate. An American diplomat and three other people were killed in the bombing, about 1,000 miles south of Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, where Bush will meet with Pervez Musharraf, the military leader.

U.S. officials said there was evidence the U.S. diplomat, foreign service officer David Foy, was targeted.

“Terrorists and killers are not going to prevent me from going to Pakistan,” Bush said at a news conference with Singh in New Delhi.

Aides acknowledge risk
Bush aides said there were security concerns about the president going to Pakistan but that officials were satisfied adequate precautions were in place. “But this is not a risk-free undertaking,” said national security adviser Stephen Hadley.

The U.S.-India nuclear deal was seen as the centerpiece of better relations between the world’s oldest and most powerful democracy and the world’s largest and fastest-growing one.

This is actually a big deal. India needs nuclear energy if its economy is going to continue to grow at such high rates. U.S. companies know that as Indians get richer they will buy more of what we produce. Consider this: The emerging Indian middle class is estimated at 300 million people — bigger than the entire U.S. population. That is a rich prize for America’s export market. India uses 400 kilowatts of electricity per person, per year. By comparison, the U.S. uses 11,000 kilowatts. India is a country of 1.1 billion people. That means that the country is going without adequate electricity. Brownouts are not uncommon around the country. As India gets wealthier, the demand for energy will only grow. That’s where nuclear energy comes in. This deal, if approved by Congress, would allow India to import nuclear fuel and equipment from nuclear providers like the United States and others. [More] —David Gregory, chief White House correspondent

India has more than 1 billion people, and its booming economy has created millions of jobs along with consumer demands that have attracted American businesses. India’s middle class has swelled to 300 million — more than the population of the United States. Still, 80 percent of Indians live on less than $2 a day.

Bush acknowledged that Washington and New Delhi were estranged during the Cold War, when India declared itself a nonaligned nation but tilted toward Moscow. “Now the relationship is changing dramatically,” he said.

Bush began the day by paying respects at a memorial to Mohandas K. Gandhi, India’s independence leader and apostle of nonviolence. Following tradition, the president and his wife, Laura, left their shoes behind. Bush also conferred with the CEOs of Indian and American businesses, religious leaders and the head of India’s political opposition.

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