Truth Behind US-India Nuclear Deal

#46

d-m, watch out there are some changes in canadian tax laws that will affect these trusts in the future. They are called ``oil and gas royalty trusts``.

Wow, Madani saheb!

I don`t follow stock market any longer but from what I read, natural gas stocks are still quite high in Canada. This is because the demand for natural gas in North America is still quite high.

I used to follow Precision Drilling at one point and it is certainly the best stock of its type in Canada.

The article is all over the place. The conclusions are disjointed from the main thesis that the author was developing - that there was certain amount of unified opposition to the deal amongst indian political parties.
Even under the best of circumstances, india will not be able to replace iranian oil any time soon. It takes time to build new power plants and electric power does not necessarily supplant petroleum.
As to the non-proliferation lobby, they are usually not anti-nuclear - they just don`t like to see any nation other than the recognized five plus israel get legitimate nuclear industry - some of them may even have a warm attitude towards india but they see this deal as a slippery slope where tomorrow, for example, china may make an exception in the case of pakistan or north korea.

#36 by asfand on December 14, 2006 2:34pm PT

Not enough to influence Iranian policy...there`s always china to sell the oil to...

Ref dost-mittar #22

{harimou#21:
``So, when do you plan to start bhajan rounds in your neighborhood singing the praise of the Nehru-Gandhi clan?``

Not anytime soon:-).
[btw, bhaijaan is a term of endearment, not devotional singing] }

Bhai-jaan, I understand that term quite well. However, Dec 14 is the beginning of the month of Margazhi and here in Tamil Nadu we have people going around singing bhajans praising Ram, Krishna, Kartik, Ganesh, Shiva, etc., early in the morning. The finger-cymbals are used to keep the `taal` (beat). Having woken up several mornings in the past to bhajan singing in the month of Margazhi, I couldn`t resist connecting your singing the praises of Jawaharlal and Indira to the morning bhajans I am so familiar with.

Goat-Brain-in-Curry Sauce aka Asli-Masanamuthu aka Soysauce is already making the morning rounds with bhajans about Doctor Artist Leader Chief Minister the Fund of Compassion.

Even Yasser Latif Hamdani and his wife Ayesha Sarwari had gotten into the act (but about a month earlier; this must be because they use the Islamic lunar calendar) with a twist: they are denouncing the casteist racist pig Gandhi along with singing the praises of Jinnah. Sort of like denouncing Satan while praising Allah, I suppose.

asfand #10

`` US gains from this Nuke deal as follows:

1) Minimalize the Iranian influence on India by reducing India dependency on Iranian oil
2) Make Iran cash strapped as Indians will be able to produce electricity by Nuclear means thus will be buying less oil from Iran.
3) More influence in India due to dependency on US supplied fuel.
4) Weaker Iran directly translates more security to Israel.

Iran-Pak-India oil pipeline is already history as Indians pulled back from the project. ``

What makes you think India or Pakistan can afford the prices Iran charges for natural gas ?

`` Why is US doing all this:
So when the time come for marching orders against China, India will not be able to resist. ``

The India-China-USA triangle will be interesting exercise in geo-poliitics for decades to come. India and USA are hedging themselves against a potentially aggressive China. If China acts in a peaceful manner the alliance will be an exercise on paper.

China is the largest trading partner of USA and second trading largest partner of India.

Urstruly #1

`` I see India-US nuclear deal as one of the blessing in disguise for Pakistan. Over the years the Us aid has nothing but a crippling effect on Pakistan and it has only resulted in the haramkhori and corruption of the ruling class. Pakistan has always made great strides everytime opportunity presented itself to keep a distance from US sphere of influence. As US tilts itself closer to India, Pak will get closer to the Chinese and Pan Islamic influence - which is good for us. ``

India-US nuclear deal is no different from China`s deals with the West/USA for nuclear technology.

If the India-US nuclear deal is blessing in disguise for Pakistan there is no reason for Pakistan to demand it. China would not be criticizing the deal.

It beats me how the goldless pork eating Chinese are okay for Pakistan.

#36

asfand, thanks, that was really interesting.

Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA).
ILSA requires certain sanctions on investments over $20 million in one year in Iran’s
energy sector.

Agip (Italy), Statoil (Norwegian) and various Korean and Japanese companies are big investors in Iran energy sector so there is some standard loophole they use around the ILSA. but seems like if Uncle Sam wishes it has big club to hit India over the head with, if required.

This is a well written and balanced article. It has a positive outlook and has not distorted perspectives or facts.
Both US and india, particularly India , have to learn to live with each other as they do represent the hopes of the Humanity`s ultimate welfare.
Both US and India have developed a working system which may allow diversity to flourish with minimum suffering on any individual group.
That does not mean that they have found the panacea for human existence but rather that both of them have to keep vigil to continue progressing in rational directions.

sorry, Perkovich is at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace now.

d-m, the situation is very complex and the knee-jerk free pass you give to them sticks in my craw. here`s a brief exposition:

some are principled, like IMHO Perkovich (read his book, its the best on the Indian nuclear program), he proposd an alternative to the july 7 agreement which from my perspective is consistent with the rest of his views on India (he is at brookings and you can read his stuff there).

On the other hand people like Jeff Lewis and David Albright (see some of their stuff at armscontrolwonk.com) are pure scam artists. for example DA came up with this idea on how tenders floated by AEC/BARC led to the Khan network developing better specifications for some equipment (in his opinion ``fed information into the khan network``) I cannot imagine a more obvious attempt to sling mud in hope that some of it will stick. But these guys are very influential and prominent members of the NPA community. Similar is also the work of the ``Wisconsin Project`` of Gary Milhorin (sp?), read up about that.

What about their behaviour for the whole of the late `80`s-late90`s when everyone and his dog was aware of the functioning of the Khan network but large segments of the NPA establishment (in alignment with US policy) kept silent over it. How come even today China is scarecely mentioned with regard to the Khan network (again in line with US policy).

This unfortunately in my opinion proves that large segments of the NPA community are far from ``principled``, they very cearly have their agenda`s.

arjun2#30:

``So the fact that he`s` working with an industry group completely impeaches the points he makes about nuclear energy?``

My assumption is that the industry group they are working for is set up by the nuclear industry, in which case it is similar to an anti-smoking advocate changing his tune after being employed by the tobacco industry.

But, hey, why are you arguing with me as if I am against nuclear energy? I am not. As far canucks, we wont mind selling a Candu or two of our own.:)

bongdong#29:

Okay, now that you have proven my ignorance, could you also enlighten us as to how their opposition to the deal is not principled?

#28 by dost-mittar on December 14, 2006 8:34am PT

So the fact that he`s` working with an industry group completely impeaches the points he makes about nuclear energy?

Do canuckistanis buy their energy from these evil power industries or do you run your own hot-air powered turbines?

to elaborate further, its as if d-m said: ``I think 20th century French philosophers have had the most unique insight into the human condition``

and on being asked about Sarte or Camus he replies ``yeah I am vaguely familiar with the names, who are they?``

arjun:

``He and Christine Todd Whitman are co-chairs of a new industry-funded initiative``.

I wonder if he has been bought over by the ``enemy``.