08-15-2005, 08:26 PM
<b>Why the India Deal Is Good</b>-By Selig S. Harrison
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->India already has an impeccable record of safeguarding its nuclear secrets, in marked contrast to neighboring Pakistan. But the July 18 accord was linked to the enactment of strengthened export control legislation. Equally important, India has agreed to place all of its existing and future civilian nuclear reactors under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->For India, U.S. readiness to help meet its number one national challenge is the litmus test of the sincerity of U.S. rhetoric about a new "strategic partnership" designed to strengthen India as a counterweight to China. The alternative to such a partnership could be the emergence over time of a Gaullist India that would play an unpredictable, freewheeling role in Asia.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->India already has an impeccable record of safeguarding its nuclear secrets, in marked contrast to neighboring Pakistan. But the July 18 accord was linked to the enactment of strengthened export control legislation. Equally important, India has agreed to place all of its existing and future civilian nuclear reactors under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->For India, U.S. readiness to help meet its number one national challenge is the litmus test of the sincerity of U.S. rhetoric about a new "strategic partnership" designed to strengthen India as a counterweight to China. The alternative to such a partnership could be the emergence over time of a Gaullist India that would play an unpredictable, freewheeling role in Asia.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->