The nuclear deal between India and the United States has taken a long and tortured path. After the unprecedented agreement was announced in early March this year by U.S. president George Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, it has always fallen inches short of being implemented, due to a left-wing party's opposition to it.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist)—the CPI(M)—has based its opposition to the Indo-U.S. Nuclear Deal on anti-U.S. or anti-imperialist propaganda. It is no surprise that CPI(M) is against the nuclear deal for this reason. Communist Parties all over the world have always adopted a so called anti-U.S., anti-imperialist agenda.
The CPI(M) has done so with a laughably small mandate of less than 5 percent of the votes, but a mandate whose support the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), led by the Indian National Congress Party, needs in order to keep the majority in the parliament and prevent mid-term elections.
India's Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh has mentioned recently that he felt a little let down after the UPA had to take a step back in regards to the nuclear deal, because of pressure to withdraw support from the government in case the deal was finalized. The Congress and almost all its allies in the UPA have overwhelmingly been in favor of going ahead with the nuclear deal. But at the same time, they are also averse to untimely elections and the breakdown of the coalition government due to the CPI(M) withdrawing its support.
Now the CPI (M) is warning the UPA not even to hold discussions with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as they fear that would lead to an eventual implementation of the nuclear deal.
The UPA has, however, made it clear that the Indo-US Nuclear Deal certainly hasn't reached a dead end. It is just that the parties need to reach a consensus for the nuclear deal to be implemented. And that means that the standoff between the UPA and the CPI(M) needs to be resolved first.
India certainly stands to gain considerably if the nuclear deal is implemented, and the majority of the population seems to agree. It will boost India's use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. India's growing energy needs can be fulfilled by utilizing nuclear energy.
The deal could also fuel research and development in nuclear technology in India and would assert India's status as a nuclear power. It would allow U.S. funding for nuclear projects in India, and also allow for Indo-U.S. cooperation on nuclear energy use in civil and defense areas.
It is interesting that the CPI(M) has decided to disregard popular sentiment. With just 5 percent support, the CPI(M) is making all of India hostage and preventing what many political observers and editors have regarded as a deal that could benefit both nations and an unprecedented chance for better relations between India and the United States.
In this scenario, the CPI(M)'s voice has more closely followed the line of the Chinese Communist Party and Pakistan's leaders, both of whom have vehemently opposed the deal. Does the CPI(M) listen to their voices more than those of the Indian citizens?
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