09-09-2008, 01:06 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Greenbacks are driving force for US behind deal </b>
Pioneer.com
Shobori Ganguli | New Delhi
While the Bush Administration's "secret letter" establishes that the Manmohan Singh Government has indeed fudged some crucial aspects of the India-US nuclear deal, it also exposes Washington's real motive in pushing the deal with the NSG with the fervour it has so far displayed.
Outlining the "likely economic benefits of this partnership", the letter mentions how "this initiative will yield important economic benefits to the private sector in the United States". What the Bush Administration, therefore, hopes to achieve is to bolster the American private sector with the Indian tax-payers' money.
<b>The letter states that since India will "significantly" increase the number of its current 15 thermal power reactors, "this ramp-up in demand for civil nuclear reactors, technology, fuel and support services holds the promise of opening new markets for the United States". </b>Again, no mention of any "benefits" falling into the Indian kitty.
Citing Indian officials, the letter states, India plans to import at least eight 1,000-megawatt power reactors by 2012, apart from additional reactors in the years ahead. What this effectively means, as put down in the letter, is that "if American vendors win just two of these reactor contracts, it could add 3,000-5,000 new direct jobs and 10,000-15,000 indirect jobs in the United States
The Bush Administration claims that the "Indian Government has conveyed to us its commitment to enable full US participation in India's civil nuclear growth and modernisation". To this end, nuclear-related US firms like General Electric and Westinghouse participated in a business delegation in December 2006.
While India will patiently wait to gain access to some magical "nuclear energy" panacea for its power woes in some distance future, the deal will concretely and immediately enhance American industry's status. "Participation in India's market will help make the American nuclear power industry globally competitive, thereby benefiting our own domestic nuclear power sector," the letter underlines.
As India willingly becomes a great catalyst for this change in America, the US companies would be laughing their way to the bank. "This initiative will permit the US companies to enter the lucrative and growing Indian market - something they are currently prohibited from doing," asserts the letter.
India will then become a laboratory and a business model to help American companies tap markets elsewhere. "Access to Indian nuclear infrastructure will allow US companies to build reactors more competitively here and in the rest of the world - not just India," claims the Bush Administration.Â
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Pioneer.com
Shobori Ganguli | New Delhi
While the Bush Administration's "secret letter" establishes that the Manmohan Singh Government has indeed fudged some crucial aspects of the India-US nuclear deal, it also exposes Washington's real motive in pushing the deal with the NSG with the fervour it has so far displayed.
Outlining the "likely economic benefits of this partnership", the letter mentions how "this initiative will yield important economic benefits to the private sector in the United States". What the Bush Administration, therefore, hopes to achieve is to bolster the American private sector with the Indian tax-payers' money.
<b>The letter states that since India will "significantly" increase the number of its current 15 thermal power reactors, "this ramp-up in demand for civil nuclear reactors, technology, fuel and support services holds the promise of opening new markets for the United States". </b>Again, no mention of any "benefits" falling into the Indian kitty.
Citing Indian officials, the letter states, India plans to import at least eight 1,000-megawatt power reactors by 2012, apart from additional reactors in the years ahead. What this effectively means, as put down in the letter, is that "if American vendors win just two of these reactor contracts, it could add 3,000-5,000 new direct jobs and 10,000-15,000 indirect jobs in the United States
The Bush Administration claims that the "Indian Government has conveyed to us its commitment to enable full US participation in India's civil nuclear growth and modernisation". To this end, nuclear-related US firms like General Electric and Westinghouse participated in a business delegation in December 2006.
While India will patiently wait to gain access to some magical "nuclear energy" panacea for its power woes in some distance future, the deal will concretely and immediately enhance American industry's status. "Participation in India's market will help make the American nuclear power industry globally competitive, thereby benefiting our own domestic nuclear power sector," the letter underlines.
As India willingly becomes a great catalyst for this change in America, the US companies would be laughing their way to the bank. "This initiative will permit the US companies to enter the lucrative and growing Indian market - something they are currently prohibited from doing," asserts the letter.
India will then become a laboratory and a business model to help American companies tap markets elsewhere. "Access to Indian nuclear infrastructure will allow US companies to build reactors more competitively here and in the rest of the world - not just India," claims the Bush Administration.Â
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->