India Nuclear Cooperation Promotion Act

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The India Nuclear Cooperation Promotion Act of 2006, also called the 123 Agreement, is a bilateral pact between the United States and India under which the U.S. will provide access to civilian nuclear technology and access to nuclear fuel in exchange for IAEA-safeguards on civilian Indian reactors.

The agreement is widely considered to help India fulfill its soaring energy demands which the The Pentagon speculates will help ease global demand for crude oil and natural gas. Also endorsed by the White House, the agreement is thought to be a major victory to George W. Bush's foreign policy initiative and was described by many lawmakers as a cornerstone of the new strategic partnership between the two countries.^[1]

The Act was passed by an overwhelming 359-68 in the United States House of Representatives on July 26th and by 85-12 in the United States Senate on Nov 16th.^[2] Since the House and Senate versions of the bill differ due to amendments each has added before approving, the House and Senate versions will need to be reconciled before being passed on to President G.W. Bush for final approval. The White House has urged Congress to expedite the reconciliation process during the current lame duck session, preferably removing certain amendments which are deemed to be deal-killers by India.^[3]

[edit] Background

Signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) are granted access to civilian nuclear technology from each other as well as nuclear fuel via the Nuclear Suppliers Group in exchange for IAEA-verified compliance of the NPT tenets. India, Israel, and Pakistan, however, have not signed the NPT, arguing that the NPT creates a club of "nuclear haves" and a larger group of "nuclear have-nots" by restricting the legal possession of nuclear weapons to those states that tested them before 1967, but the treaty never explains on what ethical grounds such a distinction is valid.

The growing energy demands of the Indian and Chinese economies have raised questions on the impact of global energy availability. The Bush Administration has concluded that an Indian shift toward nuclear energy is in the best interest for America to secure its energy needs of coal, crude oil, and natural gas. Moreover, India's strong non-proliferation record and stable democracy further helped justify a nuclear pact with India while not providing Pakistan or others the same.

While India is self-sufficient in thorium, possessing 24% of the world's known and economically available thorium,^[4] it possesses a meager 1% of the similarly calculated global uranium reserves. ^[5]