Journal Article

The US-India Nuclear Accord: Implications for the Nonproliferation Regime

Paul, T. V.

2007

Overview

The US-India nuclear accord of July 2005 and the subsequent Henry Hyde nuclear cooperation act of December 2006 have generated considerable debate among supporters and opponents largely on the basis of its potential implications for the nuclear nonproliferation regime. Critics argue that the agreement undermines confidence in the nonproliferation regime; it enhances the political role of nuclear weapons, but it sets bad precedents for other states seeking nuclear weapons. It increases India's weapons capability and numbers and will result in a two-way nuclear arms race in Asia between India and Pakistan and India and China. In this article, I contend that the critics are stretching their points and that the accord's implications for the nonproliferation regime are not as negative as they portray. Although the accord may impinge on the regime in terms of legitimacy and fairness, its negatives are more than compensated by the positives, i.e., the integration of a rising major power as a responsible nuclear state with some restraints on its military program. In a political and strategic sense, it is better to have a rising global power inside the regime than of outside it. Bringing in India as a stakeholder of the regime is in the longer term to the benefit of the regime and to the cause of nuclear nonproliferation. There are always tradeoffs and unintended consequences in major ground-breaking initiatives such as the US-India accord. For instance, during the 19703, when the US formed an alliance with China, that event pushed India onto the Soviet side, but it could have helped accelerate the Soviet decline later on. More importantly, China's political and economic integration-resulting from the Deng era reforms-would not have taken place without China's political rapprochement with the US. One can only imagine what China would be like today had there been no economic liberalization and political and economic integration of it into the global mainstream.

• Publisher: Canadian Institute of International Affairs,SAGE Publications,Sage Publications Ltd. (UK),Sage Publications Ltd
• Subject: 2005 AD / Agreements / Ambition / Arms control / Arms race / Coal / Control / Cooperation / Countries / Defense industry / Domestic politics / Economic development / Economic integration / Energy development / Fear & phobias / Free trade / Global economy / Globalization / India / International agreements / International aspects / International cooperation / International Relations / International trade / Legitimacy / Liberalization / Military intervention / Military strategy / Military weapons / Nuclear energy / Nuclear nonproliferation / Nuclear power / Nuclear Proliferation / Nuclear reactors / Nuclear weapons / Pakistan / Peoples Republic of China / Petroleum / Political alliances / Political Systems / Politics / Poverty / Power / Power reactors / Precedents / Prices / Race / Rapprochement / Regions / Safeguards / Situation / Situational factors / Supporters / Treaties / United States of America / Weapons