Yesterday Secretary of State Rice defended a controversial agreement between the US and India. Members of Congress have expressed concern over the nuclear technology deal between the two countries. The arrangement calls for the sharing of civilian nuclear technology between the world’s oldest and the world’s largest democracy, and requires India to separate its civilian and military nuclear programs. The deal marks the dawn of a new ear in US-Indian relations, which were always frosty during the Cold War as successive Indian governments embraced a socialist model, with few results.
Since embracing market reforms, however, India’s economy has prospered, though extreme poverty remains a problem in many parts of the country, for the same reason poverty exists in many parts of the world: birth rate. Poor people consistently have more children than they can afford leading to a drain on the overall economy.
This nuclear deal also marks the beginning of a check on China’s continued influence in the regime, particularly as the Authoritarian Putin and the Tyrants of Beijing draw ever closer together. India, which also has seen it’s sharing of Islamic radicals run amok, is viewed as a bulwark against the expansion of radical Islam. Nonetheless, its Dehli’s close relationship with the Mullahs of Tehran that has raised alarms on Capitol Hill and threatens the ratification of the nuclear deal.
India has secured a deal with Iran to meet its oil and natural gas needs, including the construction of a vast pipeline to supply those needs. Members of Congress are concerned that India’s close relationship with Iran could lead to technology sharing. India, however, is not Russia. The nation is not so desperate for economic growth that it will trade sensitive technology in order to secure economic advantage, even at the expense of its own security, as Russia has done. India also has a burgeoning trade relationship with the US and would not be so foolish as to threaten those ties.
Whereas Russia, has ignored the problem of radical Islam in its midst in trading with one of the chief architects of Islamic terror, The Indians can’t readily ignore the reality of Islamic terror. On countless occasions India has be visited by the scourge of Islamic extremism and knows full well the danger of cozying up to terrorists as Russia has done. The US-India deal, far from leading to a backdoor for technology transfer to Iran, will serve US interests in shoring up a potential ally against radical Islam and a resurgent China.
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1022465
