DWS Extra

First of all, I do not claim to know much about the Indo-US 123 Nuclear Co-operation agreement. So this post is not about that at all.

But there has been something that Dr Manmohan Singh and proponents of the 123 agreement in India have been claiming. They say that India has the right to conduct nuclear tests if it wants; and that the 123 nuclear agreement is silent on the topic.

As we had expected, Left has been blowing hot on the topic and things seem to be heading towards a showdown on the deal. But what I expect from a PM is to know what he is talking about.

Here is the statement of Dr Manmohan Singh on testing:

“Let me hence reiterate once again that a decision to undertake future nuclear test would be our sovereign decision, one that rests solely with the government.”

And this is what US said today:

“The proposed 123 Agreement has provisions in it that in an event of a nuclear test by India, then all nuclear cooperation is terminated,” US State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said on Tuesday.

This is utter nonsense by both parties to the agreement. How can diplomats of two countries be stupid enough to leave something like this vague, and to be exposed so quickly?

I know that in diplomatic negotiations, often it is necessary to leave certain topics vague. This is done when there is an implicit understanding on the topic, but no one wants to put it on paper. It is a common tactic considering political compulsions on both sides.

But it is also critical that both sides keep their traps shut on those topics. So the unwritten understanding does not become a political football, so it does not get exposed.

That is what has happened now. May be the Indian government knows for sure that India has no need to conduct nuclear tests in the future; may be the US knows India would not but cannot make an official promise.

If that is the case, then the countries should know when to keep their traps shut.

Now Singh looks like an idiot; and he is. He is an idiot because such an important point is not being reiterated in public forums. The diplomacy has failed.

The 123 agreement may be alright. The incapability to keep unwritten agreements under wraps is not.

Oh, don’t tell me that I am actually asking the government to fool its citizens. All governments do that. Smart, capable governments pull it off. No government will survive if some topics get discussed in public and becomes political weapons.

P.S. We should stop calling Sonia a dictator. A dictator, well, dictates. Looking at what Sonia has not managed to accomplish in Congress even when it is in power, considering the internecine warfare in the party which has led several times to electoral failure, she is just inefficient. Hardly a dictator. She may have a petty ego, but not a dictatorial bone in her body. As useless as the rest of our leaders.