Devil's Advocate: 'N-deal India's passport to the world'

DEAL OR NO DEAL? If N-deal is not processed in the present Congress, it is unlikely it will be offered again, says Mulford.

          

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David Mulford: I think that it is achievable (but) it will take some time and it will take political energy.

Karan Thapar: One of the reasons people are concerned is because countries like Australia and The Netherlands are said to be pushing for a right of return of their own. Would that be acceptable?

David Mulford: I can’t comment on what these other countries might or might not want or do. But I think it is fair to say our opinion is very strong that we hope the group would go for a relatively simple consensus and a clean solution to the problem and will not attempt to move beyond provisions that have been so carefully negotiated in the 123 Agreement. Our hope is—we are confident if we get the opportunity to manage the process—that we will achieve it.

Karan Thapar: So you are saying that the NSG shouldn’t bring back curbs and restrains, which the 123 Agreement has lifted.

David Mulford: Well I think if they do that it will make it impossible to conclude the deal.

Karan Thapar: Now you have repeatedly said that in an ideal world you would like the deal go back to the US Congress for a final up-down vote while George Bush is still President. What is the deadline for that?

David Mulford: I don’t think it is sensible, in the case of the US Congress, to set a deadline. The Congress will continue to function till it adjourns and it is always possible that some point in the process there will be a willingness, if the opportunity arises, to make that final vote, which after all is an up-down vote and not a vote based on amendments and long debate. It is a up-down vote based on the safeguards agreement, the NSG change and the 123 Agreement itself.

Karan Thapar: At the moment there is lot of political questioning about the deal in India. There is a certain amount of opposition to it. How do Americans view this debate in India?

David Mulford: I think in one word: puzzlement—if could describe that. Americans are deeply concerned about non-proliferation, it is part our culture (and) has been for 67 years. The US Congress with the President leading took an initiative of historic importance.

This resulted in a change of law to the Atomic Energy Act 1954, the only time it has ever been changed. The change had to be addressed by both Houses of Congress and in each case when the floor vote came there was strong bipartisan support.

At the time of the Senate vote, which was 30 days after the 2006 elections in which the Congress changed hands and there were deep, bitter partisan divides in American politics—at the time of that vote Democrats and Republicans stood up together and made a positive vote saying this is important for the world; this is important for India and this important for the US.